The gold products exhibition is still in the Yizhou Guild Hall. The guests have expanded from the original Xijing merchants to further afield. Many Southeast merchants have flocked to the Yizhou Guild Hall.

They stared at the slightly rough goldware greedily.

The style is ancient and the material is very impurities, but it is gold no matter what. It can be seen from the patterns and inscriptions on it, it is authentic and old things from hundreds of years ago, not fakes.

Everyone who was keen on the study of metal and stone came over and they were allowed to contact goldware, many of whom wrote down their observations in succession.

There is no effort for newspapers to pass on the gold news.

Xijing Luoyang, Kaifeng Prefecture, Jingzhao Prefecture, Hebei, Jiangnan, Bashu... It's like a plague, and almost everyone is unable to escape.

Even major families were not willing to fall behind. They dug out previous documents, especially records about the Western Regions in the Han and Tang Dynasties.

Among the numerous words, there are indeed records of gold mines found. Every year, countless merchants bring tens of thousands of taels of gold from the Western Regions.

There are also many refugees who went to the Western Regions to dig gold mines and became rich.

However, the Silk Road was cut off later, and the people who went to the Western Regions to hunt for gold lost their traces.

Everyone sighed and looked forward to the spectacularity of gold and silver mountains. They were all excited and wanted to immediately put on their wings and fly to the legendary Altai Mountain to see how spectacular the gold mines scattered all over the valleys were!

...

Of course, the gold mines produced in Altai Mountain are real, and they are large in number and open-pit, so they are easy to mine. However, due to their remote location, they have always been occupied by barbarians, and not many people know about them. In the original history, most of the gold here was cheaper than the Russians. After they seized it, they found thousands of goldware in the tombs, which caused a sensation.

Until the last century, once the herders around them had no money to spend, they would enter the valley. When they came back, their pockets were filled with gold.

Someone even tripped, but when he got up, he saw that it turned out to be a piece of dog-headed gold!

The Central Plains have always lacked precious metals, which were particularly serious in the Song Dynasty. On the one hand, it was a highly developed economy and a terrifying demand for money, and on the other hand, the territory was unprecedentedly small, and gold mines in the Western Regions and Liaodong could not be imported, so have gold and silver developed overseas?

This made the Song Dynasty, including the royal family, seriously lack gold and silver.

Wang Ning'an remembered that in the first few years of the dynasty, every New Year Festival, the emperor rewarded him with silk cloth, but gold was often only a gold ingot the size of a thumb.

At first, Wang Ning'an thought Uncle Zhao was stingy, but later he realized that many officials in the court could only get silver ingots of the same size... It was not that the emperor didn't want to be generous, but that he really didn't!

Until the Japanese market was opened, Dali and Jiaozhi also had gold inputs, and the situation was better, but the drop in the bucket was far from keeping up with demand.

On the black market, one or two silver coins can be exchanged for two to three jins. As for gold, it can be exchanged for 50 jin coins, and there is still no market price.

At this time, the news of gold from the Western Regions was no less than that of the land that had been drought for a hundred years. Suddenly, rains fell from the sky, and everyone went crazy all of a sudden.

Immediately, farmers mortgaged the land, some workers gave up their work, and even the monks and old Taoists in the temple carried hoes and prepared to go to the Western Regions to hunt for gold.

A craze filled the sky above the Song Dynasty and was rapidly spreading...

"This won't work!"

Lord Bao, who had been raising soldiers, and joined hands with the officials of the Political Affairs Hall to find Wang Ning'an. The eldest son looked solemn and very angry. He was Wang Ning'an's old parents, so he didn't have to be polite.

"Erlang, now the people don't want to cultivate the land, the workers are unwilling to work, people's hearts are fluctuating, and they all look forward to getting rich overnight. If this continues, what should we do?"

Wang Ning'an poured Bao Zheng a cup of flower tea. The old husband was always simple. He liked Jasmine Double Smoked the most. He took a sip and put it aside, waiting for Wang Ning'an's explanation.

"Haha, Bao Xianggong, I think this is not a bad thing, at least it is not a bad thing for Wang Xianggong's reform!"

Wang Anshi's old face turned slightly red and he coughed repeatedly.

"The original intention of "protecting the Qingmiao Law, and the square-field equal tax law are to alleviate the burden on the people and curb the annexation... Nowadays, the people, even some gentry, want to go to the Western Regions to hunt for gold and rush to pawn land. In this way, the land price will be reduced and the land annexation will be alleviated. More gentry will not hide the land, and it will be easier to clear the land acres again. Moreover, the other water conservancy laws, exemption laws, and market changes will be implemented, and it will be easier."

The core problem of Wang Anshi's reform is the contradiction between people and land.

As long as the population grows and increases, the total land volume remains unchanged and the contradictions continue to intensify, the gentry will hide the land in every way, obstruct the new laws, and safeguard their own interests.

This is why the old-school officials are constantly coming and going.

It’s not that they are stupid, but that they have to fight for the benefits!

At the beginning, Wang Anshi thought that Wang Ning'an would help him suppress the old faction when he came back, and perhaps he wanted to kill another group of old parties like Qiyingshe.

But unexpectedly, Wang Ning'an actually took a hand to remove the firewood from the bottom of the pot.

Now, some new situations have emerged around Xijing. For example, some people are unable to continue facing the exploitation of gentry. In the past, apart from going to the city to do more humble work, would they just bear it? Now there is an extra path to go to the Western Regions to hunt for gold. Many people have dreams of getting rich and are preparing to take a gamble.

The same is true for some gentry. They feel that it is too much effort to dig food from the soil and even compete with the court with wits and courage. Throughout the year, they can't make much money by relying on food alone.

If there is so much gold in the Western Regions, it is not impossible for them to gain wealth and prosperity.

After one more choice, the originally sharp opposition parties suddenly had room for maneuver.

For example, the Political Affairs Hall can issue a decree. If you are willing to cooperate with clearing the land, you can provide convenience and support going to the Western Regions to hunt for gold. In this way, the pressure on equal taxes on square fields will be much less.

Even because of the goldware exhibition, the censors did not catch the explosion of the gunpowder factory, nor did they shout that Wang Anshi would step down.

Everyone knows that Wang Anshi supports the development of the Western Regions. If he is replaced, everyone's dream of making money in the Western Regions will probably be shattered.

Many people regret it. If they had known this, why would they fight to the death with Wang Anshi? Isn’t this unhappy!

Bao Zheng understood the truth, but the old husband was very worried, "The Western Regions are thousands of miles away, and there are so many bandits and thieves along the way, as well as the Western Xia army. From the perspective of me, it would be good to have half of them safely reach the Western Regions. Besides, there may be many gold mountains in Altai, but how many people can find gold? As the prime minister, I really can't bear to watch the people take risks and die. Erlang, you shouldn't blame this."

Wang Ning'an lowered his eyelids and suddenly whispered: "Gong-gong Bao, how many disciples do Confucius have?"

Bao Zheng was puzzled, and Sima Guang was afraid of embarrassment and hurriedly said, "It's 3,000 disciples, but only 72 people have become famous... The sage means that even the saints cannot make everyone become talented. Going to the Western Regions to find gold is a risky thing. If you want to make a fortune, you have to pay the price?"

"Junshi is indeed keen."

Wang Ning'an nodded and said, "Mr. Bao said I was cruel and said I was careless about human life! In short, someone must take this step... There will be no less death, but among these people, one or two percent of them can realize their golden dreams, which is enough. And... without gold attraction, if the people go to the Western Regions, how can they enrich the borders? Dear lords, we have lost the Western Regions since the end of the Tang Dynasty. Why? There are too few Han people in the local area. Just imagine, if there were tens of millions of Han people, stationed in the Western Regions, or even more distant places, with a territory larger than the Song Dynasty, would they lose the Western Regions? We have missed an opportunity. Do we have to miss the second time?"

Bao Zheng was in pain, but he was also helpless.

Wang Ning'an said it clearly, of course, but without a safe arrangement, he rushed into the Western Regions. Who could predict the consequences?

"Is there no way to achieve both ends?"

Wang Ning'an shook his head, "The opening of the Western Regions is to make a fortune. If you want to be foolproof, you need to arrange supply stations and protect soldiers. When the people go to gold mines, they also need to arrange officials and soldiers to maintain order... Bao Xianggong, these expenses alone are more than tens of millions of yuan. Can the court afford it?"

Sima Guang also took it, "There is another point. If the court helps, the court cannot lose money. In other words, the gold mine must belong to the court, and the people cannot be mined casually. The income from the gold mine should be used to compensate for the previous investment... If this happens, how can the people realize their dream of getting rich? If they can't get rich overnight, why do they have to go to the Western Regions to take risks? Without a massive population influx, how can they gain a foothold in the Western Regions in a short time?"

He is really a super brain. Sima Guang understands Wang Ning'an's wishful thinking very clearly.

In fact, when it comes to this, many book friends should be familiar with it. This golden fever and the westward movement of the later bad country almost seemed to be out!

It is also a large gold mine that attracts, and the people spontaneously act, pouring into the wilderness, expanding their territory, expanding their markets, and rapidly increasing their territory in a short period of time.

In order to develop the west, the bad people paid a lot of money. On the way westward, bones were left everywhere. They wanted to seize the resources of the indigenous people, compete with the cruel natural environment, and even beware of their own people... Death is inevitable, but history has proved that such sacrifices are very valuable, and they created a powerful empire.

Bao Zheng was not pedantic, but just thought of the possible cost, his scalp was numb and overwhelmed.

"No matter what, you can't live or die, don't care at all?"

"Bao Xianggong, I have ordered that all those who are advancing to the Western Regions can get armor, swords, and hiring warriors to provide protection... In addition, I will take down Liangzhou and Ganzhou as soon as possible, and send people to attack and sweep the barbarian tribes with more than 10,000 people to prevent them from attacking the people of the Song Dynasty."
Chapter completed!