Prime Minister

Chapter 1139 The Way of Heaven

Chapter 1139 The Way of Heaven

Following the Battle of Lanzhou.

When the news came out that Liang Yi had sent out an army of 800,000 to besiege Lanzhou City, the salt notes and Jiaozi in the Bianjing Exchange both depreciated significantly.

The two stocks of the Exchange and Xihe Road Exchange that were originally issued also plummeted.

When Liang Yimei sent out his troops, well-informed merchants had already received the intelligence and began to sell large quantities of salt notes, Jiaozi and stocks at the exchange.

As the situation in Lanzhou became stalemate, the prices of salt notes and Jiaozi continued to fall.

The fluctuations in banknotes and stocks attracted the attention of Huang Lu, the Three-Division Envoy, who immediately ordered Ye Zuqia, the judge of the Jiaoyin Supervisor, to purchase a large amount of salt notes and Jiaozi from the Bianjing Jiaoyin Office.

Although there were exchanges in various places across the country at this time, the Bian Jing Exchange was still the top priority.

Ye Zuqia was previously criticized by the old party for being a flatterer of the emperor because of his support for the new law, and he lost power for a while after Wang Anshi was dismissed from his post.

After Zhang Yue became prime minister, he favored him and promoted him all the way, bringing him to the center of the political stage again.

As a top scholar from a poor family with no background, Ye Zuqia knew the importance of holding on to someone powerful. He rolled up his bedding and lived in the exchange, watching the price fluctuations of salt notes, Jiaozi and stocks.

After staying there for a few days, Ye Zuqia immediately went to the Sansi Envoy to look for Huang Lu.

Just as Ye Zuqia was about to speak, Huang Lu held out his hand to stop him and said, "Don't tell me these things first. Tell them one by one when you get to Prime Minister Zhang."

Ye Zuqia was surprised and asked, "Prime Minister Zhang is also asking about this matter?"

Ye Zuqia's heart was filled with anxiety.

Huang Lu nodded and said, "Of course, when you meet the Prime Minister, tell him everything you want to say, don't hide anything."

"Yes." Ye Zuqia said with his head lowered.

The two men rode to Zhang's house.

As Zhang Yue's power grew, he often met with officials in the government office instead of discussing matters with other ministers in the government hall.

This means that once it is said, it will count and once it is decided, it will be settled.

This kind of authority is similar to that of Cai Jing during the Huizong period.

Huang Lu and Ye Zuqia saw many officials waiting to report. As the third official of Huang Lu, they also waited for a while before entering the court.

But I saw Cai Bian was already sitting in the room. Now Cai Bian's relationship with Zhang Yue was just like that of Lü Jiawen, Deng Wan and Wang Anshi.

Zhang Yue was not on good terms with Wang Anshi, but had close relations with his two sons-in-law, Cai Bian and Wu Anchi.

Zhang Yue took a sip of tea to moisten his throat and asked Huang Lu to sit beside him.

Huang Lu was here, so Ye Zuqia had no right to sit down and report, so he could only stand and say, "Now with the price fluctuations, there are a lot of rumors in the market. It is said that the salt notes and Jiaozi have fallen so sharply because the Dangxiang and Qingtang people sold all the salt notes and Jiaozi they had."

Huang Lu said: "This is nonsense. The exchanges in Xihe Road and Yongxing Prefecture did not have such a large amount of selling. These are all our own market makers selling."

Ye Zuqia said: "That's what the governor said. They sell high and buy low, or even buy low and sell low, and they don't hesitate to sell short at a loss."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Yue thought to himself, our Song Dynasty really does have a fine tradition of reaping benefits.

"The anchors of salt notes, Zhangyan and Jieyan did not fall much, but mainly Jiaozi. During the Qingli period, Li Yuanhao attacked the northwest very urgently, and the court was short of military funds, so it issued Jiaozi indiscriminately. This caused Jiaozi to plummet."

"I have tried my best. Now 90% of the money in the exchange has been used to buy Jiaozi, but the price is still not stable."

Zhang Yue thought to himself that this was almost a battle to defend currency. After years of excessive issuance by the imperial court, a huge amount of Jiaozi had accumulated in the market.

At the beginning of Xining, the ratio of Jiaozi to coins reached one to ten. In recent years, Zhang Yue had asked the three departments to use money to purchase a large amount of Jiaozi from the Jiaoyin Exchange, which stabilized the currency value at five or six to ten, and even reached eight to ten.

Afterwards, the three offices sold some of the Jiaozi and actually made a profit during the period.

Zhang Yue looked at Huang Lu and asked, "Does the Sansi have any extra money?"

Huang Lu said: "The three departments have already allocated one million strings of cash to the Jiaoyinjian, and now they can allocate another one million strings of cash. I'm afraid it won't be possible to allocate more, otherwise many of the court's expenses will be stopped, and even the river works will be difficult to continue."

Zhang Yue said: "One million strings of cash is enough. The Ministry of Agriculture can allocate 500,000 strings of cash, and His Majesty has also agreed to allocate another 500,000 strings of cash from the inner treasury."

"There are two million strings of cash here in total. The Jiaoyin Supervisor must keep the ratio of Jiaozi stable at five to ten."

Huang Lu said: "This is a gamble on the fate of the country, the outcome of the Lanzhou battle. If we lose this battle, the salt notes and Jiaozi will be devalued, and the two million strings of cash will be lost. On the contrary, if we win, the court will make a lot of money."

After hearing Huang Lu's words, everyone nodded.

At this time, Cai Bian said: "Your Excellency, I think it would be better to let the price of Jiaozi fall first, and then use two million strings of cash to buy it back when it drops to 3:10."

Huang Lu listened to Cai Bian's words and asked, "You said it will fall first?"

Cai Bian said: "That's right. As long as the court doesn't support it, Jiaozi will immediately fall to 3:10. When it falls to the bottom, we will take action. Not only can we save the situation, but the court can also make a lot of profit."

Zhang Yue knew that Cai Bian was right.

However, if the exchange rate of Jiaozi fell to 3:10, the wealth accumulated by many people would be wiped out.

But then again, if some people earn more, there must be some people who lose more; if some people lose more, there must be some people who earn more.

After hearing Cai Bian's words, Zhang Yue hesitated for a moment, and Huang Lu saw his hesitation clearly.

Zhang Yue said, "I understand Yuan Du's meaning. But the people are the hardest hit. The court has already made a lot of money from the people by issuing Jiaozi at a rate of 5 to 10. How can we do this again? We should just stop at this."

Cai Bian knew that he had said the wrong thing, and nodded in agreement when he heard it.

After everyone left, Huang Lu grabbed Ye Zuqia and said, "You don't have to listen to Prime Minister Zhang. Just do as Cai Yuandu says."

Ye Zuqia asked in surprise: "Provincial Lord, this..."

Huang Lu said: "The Prime Minister is only concerned about the people, but he has not considered himself. If Lanzhou is defeated, the court will lose so much money. How can the Prime Minister explain to His Majesty and the officials? We must understand the Prime Minister's difficulties."

Ye Zuqia's heart trembled, and he immediately said in a serious tone: "Provincial Lord, I understand. Your kindness to me is as heavy as a mountain, and I will repay you with my loyalty!"

After Ye Zuqia left, Huang Lu sighed: "The way of heaven is like drawing a bow. The high ones are suppressed and the low ones are lifted. If it is not broken, it cannot be established; if it is not established, it cannot be broken."

Huang Lu was the person who knew Zhang Yue best. He was originally ordered by Empress Dowager Cao to stabilize the price of salt.

The other party first went long on the salt price in the exchange, then went short, and finally stabilized the salt price in one move, allowing the court to make a lot of profit from it. This method of turning the tide is truly admirable.

Now, in order to stabilize the value of Jiaozi, how could he not know the correct approach?

However, many merchants went bankrupt due to the sharp drop in the price of salt notes. Zhang Yue once told himself that he has always felt guilty and sorry for those people.

This may be the reason why Zhang Yue is unwilling to use this method again.

……

And in Zhang Mansion.

Zhang Yue and Cai Bian were walking in the courtyard.

Cai Bian wanted to explain to Zhang Yue what had just happened, but Zhang Yue smiled and said, "Yuan Du, you don't have to explain. I know you mean well. But this little thing can't shake Mount Tai."

Cai Bian laughed. He heard that the emperor had mentioned the matter of leading the army in person in front of the emperor that day, but was refuted by Zhang Yue with just one sentence.

Cai Bian said: "However, Your Majesty has recently mentioned in the Imperial Lecture that he will personally lead the army to fight."

Zhang Yue smiled when he heard this. He had delegated the command power to the Executive Privy Council, and as a result, the Battle of Lanzhou left the government with no way out.

Therefore, for officials who are keen on micro-management, they feel uncomfortable and anxious.

The emperor in front of us is the founder of the "Twelve Golden Medals". He was so worried that he came up with this mechanism.

Zhang Yue just asked the emperor to keep his hands under control and not move.

This must have made the officials unhappy.

Zhang Yue said, "Yuan Du, you have served the emperor for some time. What do you think of His Majesty?"

"Sheng Ming Tian Zong..."

Zhang Yue said: "You are wise, but your majesty is too power-hungry and pays too much attention to detail."

Cai Bian said: "Students...students agree with this."

Many people do not understand the desire of those in power to manipulate power. It is like ordinary people playing stocks. They know clearly that they should not watch the market all day and should do less operations.

But the other party just can't help but control his hands. He wants to operate it every day and feels comfortable only after moving it every day.

It turned out that all the money from frequent buying and selling was spent on handling fees, so it would be better to make money faster by doing nothing.

Zhang Yue said: "The emperor is like this. After I delegated the power to lead the troops to the Executive Privy Council, he couldn't sit still anymore."

"From Xihe Road to Bianjing, even if all delays are made, it will take more than 20 days for the gold medal envoy to go back and forth, so all opportunities for war will be delayed."

"This is the downside of hard work and anxiety, not the way of doing nothing."

Cai Bian nodded and said, "May I ask what is the most important thing in the Prime Minister's mind right now?"

Zhang Yue took a few steps and picked up a piece of bamboo from the ground and said to Cai Bian, "Yuan Du, do you still remember the metaphor I used to tell you about this?"

Cai Bian said: "I remember it."

Zhang Yue said: "The way of heaven is like drawing a bow. The harder you bend the bamboo, the greater the force that will rebound. If you use too much force, it will break."

"It's just like your father's Xining New Law. He used too much force. Even if the bamboo doesn't break, it will bounce back one day. What will happen then?"

Cai Bian said firmly and confidently: "As long as Your Majesty is in the prime of life, no one can reverse this trend."

Zhang Yue said: "You are wrong. The first thing an official must do is to know how to 'recognize the trend'. When the general trend is in the direction of the people, even the emperor cannot change it. He must obey the general trend."

Cai Bian's face changed slightly when he heard this.

Zhang Yue pretended to flick the bamboo, causing the palm of the man's hand to hurt, and then said: "In fact, it is not difficult to cut down the summer. As long as you persevere, you can achieve complete success within five to ten years."

"I'm afraid of two things: either you rush and waste time, or you give up halfway. A journey of a hundred miles begins with a single step!"

“Similarly, we need to push the new law forward, and we don’t need to use as much force as possible.”

Wang Anshi and Cai Bian both believed in their hearts that the emperor would not waver and would continue to implement the new laws.

But politics is not that simple.

When Cai Bian hesitated, he saw Zhang Yue put the bamboo in his palm and said with a smile: "Don't think about it for now. Let's talk about this topic after the battle of Lanzhou is decided!"

Cai Bian calmed down and said, "Thank you, Prime Minister, for your advice."