Chapter 881 Shopping Anecdotes

Chapter 881: 881 Shopping Anecdotes

It’s not that Lin Daiyu and her companions had high standards; they were used to seeing only the finest. Now, looking at inferior goods, they naturally looked down on them.

They went shopping, but it was just shopping; they looked around casually and didn’t intend to buy anything.

The Han Dynasty didn’t implement any standard currency system. Even the copper coins circulating in the market had different face values ​​depending on their copper content, appearance, and weight, leading to variations in usage among the people.

Only cloth was a relatively constant benchmark.

Especially now, with war raging across the land, and for a long time, the court and government had even abandoned the circulation of gold coins, using only cloth as currency.

Only the prices of physical goods like cloth remained stable, along with grain.

Seeing Lin Daiyu and her companions, all of whom were as beautiful as celestial beings, the shopkeepers were stunned and didn’t even dare to approach them.

Their beautiful faces and noble bearing were so captivating. Faced with such women, what man could remain calm?

Leaving the fabric shop, she saw a group of noblewomen emerging. It seemed her outing couldn’t be kept secret.

But she wondered, were these the families of officials?

Jia Tanchun watched with a smile, all too familiar with this kind of thing.

She had encountered similar situations in Chang’an.

The wives or daughters of officials would deliberately create opportunities for conversation.

This was "ladies’ diplomacy."

While not particularly important,

it could still be a way for the ladies to show goodwill.

Lu Ming instructed Tanchun to deal with the women while he continued his patrol.

"Keep an eye on the time. Get them out of here in three-quarters of an hour!"

Jia Tanchun breathed a sigh of relief. She hadn’t really wanted to deal with these people anyway.

It wasn’t that she couldn’t, but today was special—a rare opportunity to go shopping with her husband—and she really didn’t want to waste time on this.

Normally, she would be happy to chat with these women.

Inside a general store, tensions were high. Two burly farmers confronted two men dressed as shop assistants.

Both sides glared angrily, veins bulging, as if a fight could break out at any moment.

The men, disguised as customers, wandering swordsmen, and travelers’ guards, immediately tensed up upon seeing this scene. Some even placed their hands on the hilts of their swords hidden in their wide robes.

Lu Ming, however, remained unconcerned. Instead, he pulled Lin Daiyu aside, holding her hand, to watch the spectacle unfold.

Just then, another person rushed in.

The man, dressed in a dark blue cloth robe, entered and, speaking in a rough, local Puyang accent, shouted, "What are you doing? What are you doing? Come here, both of you!"

Unexpectedly, both groups obediently approached the man. A shop assistant bowed and said, "Master Zhang, you are a merchant in this East Market; you must stand up for us!"

The man said, "These two are trying to buy things from my shop with these cheap, worthless copper coins. Is that even possible?"

He excitedly waved a handful of copper coins in front of the man. Lu Ming had a good eye; they were indeed the worst quality coins imaginable—extremely thin and smaller than ordinary coins!

Lu Ming judged that they were probably shoddy goods produced by some unscrupulous private mint.

Coins were something only the imperial court could print and manufacture. During the Western Han Dynasty, feudal lords could mint their own coins.

During the Rebellion of the Seven States, this situation was returned to the imperial court.

However, after Wang Mang’s usurpation and Emperor Guangwu’s restoration of the Han Dynasty, the right to mint coins was devolved to the local governments. This was solely because Liu Xiu’s restoration relied on the power of powerful clans.

From that point on, the power of these powerful clans could never be eradicated; those who accepted bribes were bound to be subservient.

This situation was beyond the control of successive Eastern Han emperors. Therefore, the collapse of the Han Dynasty was not actually the fault of Emperor Ling and Emperor Huan, but rather a result of deeply entrenched and irreversible problems.

However, under Lu Ming’s rule in the Qin Dynasty, the currency issue was well controlled, with a unified barter system.

The only currencies were gold and silver; other currencies had no possibility of circulation.

Money became worthless, so people had to work to exchange for goods.

Brutally abolishing currency and implementing a barter system didn’t necessarily lead to any major problems.

Moreover, they had jobs and income, which could be directly exchanged for food and other necessities, so they didn’t have to worry about surviving.

Therefore, the Qin state remained stable. As long as there was food to eat, no one harbored rebellious intentions. The people weren’t fools; why would they cause trouble when they could live well?

The two farmers looked at each other and asked, "Are you Ping Jia?"

The man in the blue robe nodded, stuffing the copper coins back into their hands, saying, "Copper coins are worthless; you two shouldn’t use them anymore!"

He cupped his hands and said, "Give me some face, and let this matter drop. Otherwise, if you take it to the authorities and I don’t help you, you know the consequences!"

The two men seemed very afraid of the man named "Ping Jia," and cupped their hands, saying, "Since Ping Jia has spoken, we brothers will give him face!"

Ping Jia is a person in all markets today responsible for arbitrating disputes between merchants and commoners over price issues during market transactions.

The "Pingjia" (平贾) were not government officials or officials; quite the opposite, they were merchants!

During the Western Han Dynasty, local officials frequently oppressed the people, and corrupt officials abused their power to force buying and selling.

The people could only suffer the consequences. Therefore, in all markets, the government appointed officials to "manipulate power," and these officials were called Pingjia, usually elected by the merchants themselves.

This tradition has continued to the present day, and it was also practiced in the Qin Dynasty, though it was later incorporated into the government.

Pingjia held no official position, received no salary, no title, and had little power, but they could determine the fairness of prices in transactions.

This position, if used well, could be profitable!

The Pingjia’s main responsibility was to coordinate price determination between market merchants and the government, preventing officials from forcing buying and selling and stopping unscrupulous merchants from cheating and swindling in the market.

Therefore, fair merchants are highly respected and are usually the most impartial people in the market.

A market with fair merchants is normal.

And a market without fair merchants is abnormal!