"Please be careful, this is a place where craftsmen work, so it looks very dirty and messy. It's enough to come from the subordinates, but you really don't have to come here in person!" Xu Jingzong walked and said to Li Xiu with a flattering smile. He could be regarded as Li Xiu's promotion, and he had worked under Li Xiu twice, but he didn't expect that he would become Li Xiu's direct subordinate for the third time.

"The matter of coin minting is of great importance. I also have to see with my own eyes how copper coins are minted so that I can have a clear idea in my heart." Li Xiu said without caring about the dirty ground under his feet.

This is the coin minting bureau in Chang'an City, and it is also the largest coin minting bureau in the entire Tang Dynasty. After all, Chang'an has a large population and its business is very prosperous, which has caused a large number of copper coins to flow from here to the whole country. Therefore, in order to ensure the supply of copper coins, the coin minting bureau here is also very large, and it was Li Xiu's first time here.

A few days ago, Li Xiu's plan to prepare for the bank had been recognized by Li Shimin. After the discussions of the three provinces, the matter of establishing the bank was finally officially started. Li Shimin also formally issued an order to set up a separate institution called Financial Management Supervision, which is independent of the six ministries and is on the same level as the general and military equipment supervisors. The subordinates of the Financial Management Supervision established the Royal Bank of Tang, responsible for the issuance, remittance, lending and other businesses of currency. Li Xiu was the first Financial Management Supervision and also served as the president of the Royal Bank.

However, after Li Shimin's appointment, Li Xiu had to put on the airs of the financial management supervisor. The first thing he thought of was no one else, his old subordinate Xu Jingzong. Although Xu Jingzong was not very good, he was extremely talented. Especially when he destroyed the Turks, his talent in dispatching was also very appreciated by Li Xiu. If he had such an assistant, Li Xiu could save a lot of worry.

It is precisely because of this that when Li Xiu asked Li Shimin for someone, Xu Jingzong was ranked first. Although Xu Jingzong was promoted before, he was not satisfied with his official career. Now that he heard that Li Xiu wanted to use him, he immediately ran over and helped Li Xiu draft a list of officials in the financial management and supervision. A considerable number of them were from the Ministry of Revenue. After all, the Ministry of Revenue was in charge of finance, so it was easier for them to change their careers and become banks.

However, it will take some time for the mobilization of officials, and this kind of thing is very trivial, so Li Xiu left it to Xu Jingzong to take charge. Today, he came to inspect the Money Cricketing Bureau in person. Now, the Money Cricketing Bureau, like the bank, is a subordinate organization of the Financial Management Supervision Bureau, and the power of the Financial Management Supervision may be expanded in the future.

The coin metering bureau is actually a huge casting workshop. The copper materials from all over the place are transported here, and then mixed with a certain proportion of tin, melted and poured into the coin mold, and turned into copper coins one by one. However, the copper coins cannot be used at this time because there will be burrs on the edges of the copper coins, so craftsmen need to use a file to trim the edges, and even pour the copper coins and sawdust into a barrel. There is a handle next to it that can turn the barrel, making the copper coins polished inside brighter.

Seeing these copper coins that were almost made by hand, Li Xiu couldn't help but frown, because the efficiency was too low, and a craftsman could not make many copper coins in a day. No wonder the money minting bureau hired so many craftsmen, after all, this was purely a manual work.

"How were coins from later generations made?" Li Xiu couldn't help but whisper to himself at this time. He remembered that coins from later generations seemed to be stamped, and coins from later generations were made of hard steel. In contrast, copper and silver with softer textures were easier to stamp. Unfortunately, there was no stamping machine in the Tang Dynasty.

"The principle of the stamping machine does not seem to be complicated, but power and materials are a big problem. The steam engine can provide power, but it also has to be made out first!" Li Xiu continued to murmur himself at this time, but at the end, his face couldn't help but show a frustrated expression. The productivity of the Tang Dynasty in this era was too backward. No matter how many ideas he had, there was no way to achieve it.

The steam engine cannot be built for the time being, but Li Xiu took a step back and thought of hydraulic power. Perhaps hydraulic power can act as the power of the stamping machine, but this is just a thought of Li Xiu. I don’t know if it is feasible. I can try it if I have time in the future.

However, there is not no way to improve the production efficiency of the Money Making Bureau. For example, Li Xiu found that the management of the Money Making Bureau was too loose and the manufacturing process was not very rigorous. Not to mention, just placing various materials randomly is a big problem, which makes Li Xiu not even easy to find. If these problems can be solved, the efficiency of the Money Making Bureau should be improved.

In addition to Xu Jingzong, the officials who accompanied Li Xiu also presided over the Money Making Bureau. They already knew that the Money Making Bureau was assigned to financial management and supervision, so they were naturally very attentive to Li Xiu, the new Shangguan. At this time, they also greeted Li Xiu and introduced the situation of the Money Making Bureau.

Although there are problems in the internal management of the Coin Casting Bureau, the division of labor is very fine. Copper materials, charcoal, smelting, etc. are managed by special departments, and there is also an internal regulatory department that specializes in inspecting the produced copper coins. If unqualified copper coins are recast, they will not be able to flow out of here at all.

However, through the introduction of the Money Making Bureau, Li Xiu discovered some problems, that is, the craftsmen in the Money Making Bureau were passed down from generation to generation, similar to the craftsmen in the Ming Dynasty. It can be said that their son was destined to work here for a lifetime since he was born. Moreover, if the craftsmen did not do well, they would definitely be punished. However, if they did well, there would be no corresponding reward. In this case, the enthusiasm of the craftsmen would definitely be damaged, and the craftsmen would only not seek merit, but seek nothing wrong. In this negative attitude, it is no wonder that Li Xiu felt that their efficiency was inefficient just now.

Thinking of the above, Li Xiu shook his head secretly. Although the Money Crushing Bureau belongs to the court, it is not even as good as his own tea workshop in management. He dares to bet that as long as the manager of his tea workshop is transferred, the efficiency of the Money Crushing Bureau will be greatly improved within three months and the internal management will be completely renewed.

Of course, Li Xiu could only think about the above. Even if the money minting bureau is under his control now, he would not really let his own manager take over the money minting bureau. Even if it is really effective, he will only be rumored behind the back of some people with ulterior motives. Now that he is in the officialdom, he sometimes has to be wary of it.
Chapter completed!