The Western Liang troops left the merchants who depended on them to pass through the checkpoint, taking their documents to see Fu Zhi first.
The Western Liang merchants paid commercial taxes on their own goods before passing through. Some of them would proceed to Chang’an, then purchase goods and find partners to return to Western Liang.
Most, however, planned to follow the Western Liang troops delivering gifts to Luoyang for a visit, perhaps even making a trip to Yuzhou. They had heard that the glass cups that Inspector Zhao had given to their Inspector were products of Yuzhou.
They wanted some.
Fu Zhi had now established a firm foothold in Chang’an. His work capabilities were beyond question, far superior to the Prince of Nanyang, who had been clueless all along and only knew how to lie flat and slack off.
Since his arrival in Chang’an four months ago, though the city was still suffering from famine, at least it was no longer lifeless.
With him taking the lead, the Emperor allocated a sum of grain from Yuncheng, and Zhao Hanzhang also supported Chang’an with two batches of grain, specifically for sheltering refugees.
When Fu Zhi arrived in Chang’an, it was already somewhat late, but he still organized a group to reclaim land and plant millet and beans. Now the beans were being harvested, and though the millet yield was not very good, there was still some harvest.
Because of this harvest, the lifeless Chang’an slowly began to regain vitality.
And now, even Western Liang had sent supporting supplies. Fu Zhi looked at these furs and horses, his eyes misting slightly as he hurriedly had them stored away.
He had come here intending to build a large army for the Emperor, but unexpectedly, instead of recruiting soldiers, he had first plunged headlong into civil development.
Now with horses, he finally had the capacity to begin building an army belonging to him and the Emperor.
When he saw the chest of coins that came with the supplies, he paused slightly. These coins were a bit too new.
He picked up one coin and weighed it in his hand, lowering his eyes to conceal his thoughts. When he raised his head again, there was no trace of anything unusual as he asked, “These coins are?”
The envoy leading the troops immediately bowed and presented a letter, saying, “This is a letter from our Governor to the Palace Secretary.”
He said, “After the rebellion, we in Western Liang have many people but little currency. Civilian transactions are mostly conducted with silk and cloth, whose value is difficult to define. Some silks and cloths are also hard to preserve—either getting damp or being eaten by insects—greatly damaging their value. Therefore, our Governor cast five-zhu coins, hoping to bring order to transactions within Western Liang.”
Western Liang was now Zhang Gui’s domain. Not to mention Fu Zhi, even the Emperor could hardly interfere.
So he could only nod and say, “This is an excellent initiative.”
More details were written in Zhang Gui’s letter. He hoped Fu Zhi could recognize the new currency of Western Liang, allowing Chang’an merchants to acknowledge the value of the new coins and make them equal in value to the court’s currency.
After weighing the new coin, Fu Zhi said, “But this new coin seems lighter than the court’s five-zhu coins.”
“It is lighter,” the envoy bowed and said, “approximately two gui lighter.”
The envoy had only heard about it and didn’t know exactly how much lighter, but Fu Tinghan knew.
As soon as the new coins and gifts arrived in Luoyang, Zhao Hanzhang and the others began weighing them on a balance scale.
The balance scale was made by Fu Tinghan through craftsmen who made scales. They had it back in Yuzhou, with two types of measurement units on it—one side using this era’s units, the other side using the units he had converted.
He weighed a total of ten units, then calculated the average, with new coins on one side and the court’s old coins on the other.
He said, “Each of Western Liang’s new coins is approximately 0.5 grams lighter than the court’s five-zhu coins, which is 2.4 gui lighter.”
Fu Tinghan pushed the new coins and old coins into separate piles and said to Zhao Hanzhang, “Our previous design completely replicated the court’s weight and volume, but if we acknowledge Western Liang’s new coins and both sides engage in close commercial activities, our new coins will be at a loss.”
Ji Yuan pondered, “Given Zhang Gui’s character, he wouldn’t do something like melting and recasting.”
Fu Tinghan said, “I don’t trust people, I only trust systems.”
Zhao Hanzhang also nodded, “I trust Zhang Gui, but I trust systems more. Moreover,”
She raised her eyes to look at Ji Yuan, “Zhang Gui’s health isn’t good. Who knows when he’ll pass his position to Zhang Shi?”
Ji Yuan understood, “My lady doesn’t trust Zhang Shi’s character?”
Zhao Hanzhang smiled at him.
After pondering for a moment, Ji Yuan said, “That’s true, we indeed need to guard against this. Then our new coins…”
“Also reduce the weight,” she said, “Model them after Western Liang’s new coins.”
Ji Yuan worried, “Won’t this affect commerce? Not many merchants come to Luoyang as it is. If they know our new coins are lighter, what if even fewer come?”
Zhao Hanzhang smiled slightly and said, “As long as I, Zhao Hanzhang, don’t fall, then the new currency won’t fall. Why does Zhang Gui have the confidence to write asking me to support Western Liang’s new currency? Isn’t it because of his prestige in Western Liang?”
“As long as he lives, the new currency will circulate smoothly in Western Liang. And with the Zhang family’s prestige, even after he passes on, as long as his successor is his adult descendant, things won’t be too bad. This new currency will maintain stable value for at least ten years.”
Fu Tinghan also nodded, “Our currency is not rootless duckweed. The Central Plains is a plain region and also grain-producing land. Previously it was due to warfare, but now Hanzhang has provided it with a stable environment. So the goods here include grain, silk, linen cloth, glass, porcelain, and paper. As long as these goods can be sold externally, then the new currency cast in the Central Plains will have stable value. People outside will have to recognize it whether they want to or not.”
Zhao Hanzhang proudly lifted the corners of her mouth and nodded, “Western Liang is remote with few people and not many resources, so for the new currency to circulate externally, it needs recognition. But I don’t need that. This is the Central Plains. As long as we give the common people stable conditions, resources here are abundant and can attract people from all over the world like bees to honey. So the currency here will naturally gain recognition from the world.”
The value of currency lies in what it represents. Zhao Hanzhang had this confidence.
Ji Yuan was convinced and nodded, “Then let’s reduce the weight and mint coins according to Western Liang’s new currency weight.”
Zhao Hanzhang said, “Since the weight is different, let’s also modify the design to make this five-zhu coin truly a new currency.”
She said, “A new currency that belongs to me, that belongs to Zhao’s Army.”
Ji Yuan’s eyes flashed, looking at Zhao Hanzhang with excitement.
Although Zhang Gui’s new currency was slightly lighter in weight, its design followed the court’s pattern. When put into the market, people wouldn’t notice and couldn’t distinguish between new and old coins.
Originally Zhao Hanzhang wanted to keep a low profile and mint everything according to the court’s currency, but she had now changed her mind.
Since she wasn’t the first person to dare mint new currency, she would be the first person to dare issue her own currency.
So the mold was modified again. This time, they would add a character “Zhao” to the five-zhu coin.
During this time, the copper mine had already begun mining, Fu Tinghan had even smelted copper, and the craftsmen were ready, just waiting for the mold to arrive before they could try casting copper coins.
So as soon as the mold arrived at the heavily guarded workshop, within a few days, the new coins were produced.
The workshop manager personally escorted a basket of coins to visit Zhao Hanzhang and Fu Tinghan. He knelt on the ground with his head bowed, saying, “Following Young Master’s orders, we first cast ten thousand coins and checked them all for any issues before continuing.”