Chapter 15: The Greatest Grain

  It's actually not a strange thing for Liu Xuan to want to go out and have some fun.

  The Son of Heaven touring the world seems normal, plus Liu Xuan can't possibly run around the entire territory of the Han Dynasty - not to mention other things, apart from the northwest counties, those places are all in the hands of the vassals, if Liu Xuan goes there wouldn't he be jumping into the net?

  Although he is not afraid of the other party playing whatever tricks to order the vassals, there will definitely be no less trouble. At that time, these vassals would not care about what 'Son of Heaven', 'Emperor' or 'Master of All Under Heaven' and so on, they just want to get this thing that can 'order all under heaven' into their hands.

  So Liu Xuan, even if he patrols, will only limit the scope to Yong and Liang, and for safety, Liangzhou, which has not been fully controlled, must also be excluded. At the same time, the northernmost border area of Yongzhou should also be avoided as much as possible.

  In that case, the area to be inspected is a region north of Qinling Mountains, neither big nor small. If Liu Xuan's actions are slightly faster, it would take about a year to make a rough turn.

  He had a plan in mind, but he didn't directly tell his two younger brothers about it, nor did he even inform Cai Yan. The matter of the emperor's outing was of great importance and there were many details to be discussed and confirmed, so it couldn't be settled in just one or two meetings.

  Even if those details are confirmed, the actual departure time will not be now, at least until after the flowers bloom in spring. Otherwise, running around in this icy and snowy weather - is the emperor playing a survival game with a large group of people?

  Liu Xuan led Cai Yan out of the Wangfu and headed to Cai Yong's residence, where someone had already informed Cai Yong that the Emperor would be visiting his home with the Empress.

  Although nominally it was a visit to his own father-in-law, this very normal thing once became associated with the emperor, it became not ordinary.

  Cai Yong, who should have stayed in his own mansion to wait, had made preparations for the welcome early on and also sent someone far away to keep watch. As soon as the Emperor arrived, he would immediately return to report back, so that Cai could go out to meet him ahead of time - in fact, before the Emperor's arrival, officials would naturally come to notify him.

  But Liu Xuan and Cai Yan did not make a big show of going out this time, even Liu Xuan himself wore very ordinary clothes, walking on the street was no different from those ordinary 'young masters'.

  Only Zhang Liao and Qin Yilu were guarding behind him, while the rest of the imperial guards were scattered around, protecting from a distance. This was also to make it easier for the emperor to have fun when he went out to relax, otherwise a large group of people would crowd around, and the few commoners on the street would immediately run far away. As Liu Xuan put it: "That would be really boring!"

  Liu Xuan suddenly discovered that not far in front of him was a familiar figure, seemingly chatting with the common people by the street. Upon closer inspection, Liu Xuan immediately recognized who it was.

  "Wen Yuan, go and summon Gong Da!"

  That man was none other than the Minister of Households, Xun Yu. He hadn't expected to run into him here on a cold winter's day. Liu Xuan was curious what Xun Yu was doing here - and why he looked like an accountant.

  Xun You was chatting with the ordinary people when he suddenly heard someone calling him. He turned his head and found it was Zhang Liao, although a bit surprised but didn't think much of it.

  Zhang Liao, although a Feathered Forest General, often guarded Liu Xuan's side, but not always on guard, also had his own rest time. So Xun Yu thought Zhang Liao was just out for a stroll, but unexpectedly, after the courtesy, Zhang Liao came over and whispered: "Xun Shangshu, His Majesty has summoned you."

  Xun Yu was startled and immediately looked far away, and at once saw the group of people standing on the street corner. Who was the first person today?

  However, he did not rush over in a fluster, but instead spoke to Zhang Liao with an expressionless face, then bid farewell to the commoner and finally strolled over to Liu Xuan's side, making a deeply concealed bow.

  But Xun Yu saw that Liu Xuan didn't want to make a big fuss today, so he acted in this way. Liu Xuan was very satisfied with Xun Yu's vigilance, but he was still wondering why Xun Yu had come out on such a cold day. So after the courtesy, he asked directly: "On such a cold day, Master Da is not at home, what are you doing running around outside?"

  "Your Majesty has ordered me to reform the currency system. I want to understand the thoughts of the common people, so I have been asking around everywhere to see what ideas the people have about this."

  Liu Xuan only then realized that Xun Yu was not at home, but instead was braving the cold wind and running around everywhere, all because of the task he had entrusted to him.

  It's not easy to rebuild the economic system. Although Liu Xuan has set up three currencies, gold, silver and copper, the issuance of currency is not just a matter of the court minting it and then it can be circulated. It depends on whether the common people recognize it or not. If the common people do not accept it, then this currency is basically useless, with no use at all.

  Xun Yu was moving around everywhere, and it just so happened that in the winter season, most of the common people stayed at home, making them easier to find, which is why he chose this time to come out.

  "So, according to Gong Da's observation, how is the situation?"

  "However, I only visited the common people within Chang'an City. The common people in the city are generally quite wealthy, so they don't have much of an opinion on the court's new currency. However, I met a few poor farmers who live outside the city and come in to sell fur, hay, and other goods. After probing them, I found that they universally distrust the court-issued currency."

  This is also a normal thing, in fact, for this money thing, what really cares about are these poor people.

  Those wealthy families, even if they couldn't use the currency, had other means. With a solid family foundation, they had more options. When the imperial court promoted new currencies, they would be willing to accept them, even if it was just to buy peace and avoid offending the imperial court.

  But for ordinary people, it's different. If the government buys goods from them with currency, this money becomes their only property. If it has no use and cannot be exchanged for the grain and clothing they urgently need, then this family can basically only wait to die.

  Matters related to their own survival, they naturally attach great importance to. But the Ling Emperor was in power at that time and crazily cast coins, long ago destroying the credibility of the court and currency. Now, even though Xun Yu explicitly said "the new emperor wants to introduce a new currency", they only think this is another trick for the court to exploit them.

  "Really?"

  Liu Xuan did not expect this issue to be so troublesome. Compared with it, his casual stipulation of one gold, ten silvers and one thousand coppers is more in line with the current era, and it's not worth paying attention to anymore.

  The trouble is still how to promote the currency! Otherwise, the great Han Dynasty cannot always be exchanging goods for goods, that's too backward!

  "Does Gongda have a good plan?"

  Xun Yu thought for a moment, as if sorting out his thoughts, and then said: "I have thought of some solutions, but I think the most important problem is still food!"

  "Grain?"

  "That's right, grain!" Xun You nodded and emphasized: "Now that the court is on the right track under your governance, and thanks to the power of the jade symbol you bestowed, there have been continuous bumper harvests around Chang'an, and the granaries are full of grain. Not only do the people of Chang'an not have to worry about food, but the entire Yongzhou province has benefited from this. Why don't we take advantage of this and promote the use of currency?"

  "Tell me in detail!" He beckoned to Xun Yu with his hand, walking slowly forward while listening to Xun Yu's explanation. The several women beside him knew the emperor was discussing official business, so they intentionally slowed down two steps and kept a distance, looking at the scenery by the street and talking softly to each other, leaving space for Xun Yu and Liu Xuan.

  "What the common people are most concerned about is always their food problem - without clothes to wear, they can still bear it, but if there's no food to eat, then how can they bear it? They'll die in a few days, so grain is what the common people care about most."

  "I intend to set up a grain store in Chang'an and each county of Yongzhou, which is an official shop. As long as the currency issued by the court is used for purchase, food can be bought. Only let the people understand that this money can exchange for the grains they urgently need, and over time, the people will naturally recognize the purchasing power of the new currency."

  "When ordinary people accept it, then the new currency will gradually become a widely accepted medium of exchange!"

  Liu Xuan nodded, suddenly understanding what Xun Yu meant - actually, this is a bit like the promotion method of silver tickets in later generations. As long as you hold our recognized silver ticket and come to our money house, you can exchange it for the corresponding amount of silver.

  After a long time, the common people understood that silver notes and silver coins were items of equal value, so they naturally recognized the purchasing power of silver notes.

  At that time, it was the silver standard period. After listening to Xun Yu's explanation, Liu Xuan finally realized that under his rule, the Great Han was a food-based currency... What gold and silver were for the people, these inedible things were useless, and even if they were exchanged for grain, they would still cause trouble, which was not as practical as food.

  "Indeed, food is more precious than heaven!"

  However, this approach requires the imperial court to continuously provide sufficient food, because in the early stages, the people will definitely have a skeptical attitude, and those who take money directly to exchange for food are not in the minority. If the imperial court's grain supply is not up to par, then this plan is equivalent to complete failure.

  "Grain... is the grain that the imperial court currently possesses sufficient?"

  Xun Yu heard Liu Xuan's question and knew that the Emperor had grasped the key to this plan, so he smiled and said: "Your Majesty, I have made some progress in my cultivation recently and have gained a few more abilities. I was just about to discuss them with you in detail."

  "Oh? What ability?"

  "How to arrange the formation of high-yielding and fast-maturing grains, as well as the techniques for refining the basic formation jade symbol!" Xun You bowed his hands and mentioned two abilities that were completely beyond Liu Xuan's expectations.

  "What are these abilities? I didn't expect Xun Yu to develop in the direction of logistics talent that he needs most?" Liu Xuan was stunned for a moment, and then suddenly became overjoyed.

  He had originally included those miscellaneous techniques in the methods he taught, which were related to some of the basic technologies for establishing a true cultivation civilization, but no one had ever understood them. He was just thinking about whether or not to cultivate some talent in this area himself when he learned that Xun Yu had already grasped the two most basic abilities among them.

  Since Xun Yu can understand, then... "Right, there are still a few talented people in the northwest, maybe these people can also be trained to become people with more emphasis on civil skills like Xun Yu? In that case, the northwest really needs to be inspected once!"