Li Shimin

Chapter 836 Your Majesty, Banknotes Can Be Introduced!

Li Shimin's eyes lit up, "Xuan Ba's intention?"

Seeing that Li Shimin understood, Li Xuan nodded slightly, and then explained in detail.

"Your Majesty, let banknotes replace the certificates of deposit. Those rich and powerful merchants will be given as much banknotes as they deposit! The Tang Bank only recognizes banknotes, not people. As long as someone goes to the bank to withdraw money with banknotes, the Datang Bank will give them money." He withdraws money.

Presumably, in this way, those powerful and wealthy businessmen will prefer the existence of banknotes! "

"Of course, the banknotes issued by Datang Bank should be easy to carry and beautiful. The size of the paper only needs to be as big as the paper in human hands, and the amount can be one, five, ten, fifty, one hundred, or consistent. , One hundred strings!

With these banknotes, those merchants only need to carry dozens of Yiguan or Baiguan banknotes with them to go out and do business.

Even, if some peddlers and householders also like to buy and sell things with banknotes, that would be great! "

"However, Your Majesty, the biggest disadvantage of banknotes under such rules is that they are easy to be counterfeited! Therefore, when Your Majesty wants to issue banknotes, he must beware of some thieves who privately counterfeit banknotes.

When His Majesty prints banknotes, he has to choose paper that is difficult for ordinary people, even those big families, to make banknotes.

From then on, the paper needed for banknotes can only be used exclusively by the imperial court, and no aristocratic family or folks are allowed to purchase it! "

"In addition, the banknotes need to be engraved with complex and exquisite patterns and patterns, as well as the big seal of the Tang Bank. Or, the portrait of His Majesty can also be printed on the banknotes, and His Majesty can write unique characters on the banknotes, leaving hidden The secret title number makes it difficult for counterfeiters to imitate!"

"The cost of counterfeiting is higher than that of banknotes, so that this phenomenon can be completely eliminated! Only in this way can banknotes be issued!"

"Finally, Your Majesty can also set up currency discriminators in the Datang banks in the states of the Tang Dynasty to help the people and merchants identify the authenticity of the banknotes, and spread the knowledge about banknotes to the people and teach the people and merchants , How to identify the authenticity of banknotes!"

"In this way, it only takes a few years, and when the Datang bank is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and even the common people in the states and counties of the Tang Dynasty start to use banknotes, maybe banknotes can replace copper coins and become money for commodity transactions!"

"Paper money instead of copper coins?"

Hearing this, Li Shimin was startled, "Xuan Ba, how can paper money replace copper money?"

"Why not!"

Li Xuan asked back, "Your Majesty, whether it is copper coins or banknotes, they are only used to represent a person's wealth and can be used to buy some goods. As long as Your Majesty can guarantee that the banknotes issued by Datang will not be easily counterfeit, then sooner or later people will accept paper money."

"This matter is of great importance, and I need to discuss it with all the ministers in the court!"

Li Shimin was already a little moved by this meeting, but as an emperor, he had to discuss with all the officials about such matters concerning the livelihood of thousands of people.

"Ok!"

Li Xuan nodded slightly, "This matter is indeed a major event related to the livelihood of thousands of people in the Tang Dynasty. Your Majesty really needs to be more cautious. If your Majesty cannot ensure that the banknotes issued by the Tang Bank will not be counterfeited by others, especially those big families If it is counterfeit, then paper money must not be issued!"

"I understand!"

Li Shimin nodded solemnly.

"Of course, there is another way besides banknotes!"

After thinking about it, Li Xuan said again.

"What method?" Li Shimin asked quickly.

"Your Majesty, you can also circulate silver and gold as coins!"

Li Xuandao.

"Silver and gold?"

Thinking of the fact that Li Xuan has been collecting a large amount of gold all these years, Li Shimin gave Li Xuan a strange look.

"Your Majesty, both silver and gold are very scarce metals, even less than copper. Moreover, whether in the hearts of the common people or in the hearts of powerful families, silver and gold are manifestations of wealth. Even in the past thousand years, the relationship between silver and gold The value will still exist. However, the biggest disadvantage compared with banknotes is that silver and gold are metals and are not easy to carry!"

Li Xuan didn't think so much, but continued: "Your Majesty, it is rumored that in the ancient Xia Dynasty, people did not have copper coins, so they used shells on the seashore as currency to buy things. Qi State has sword coins, and Qin State has money!
Later, Qin destroyed the six countries, unified the world, and abolished the messy currencies of the six countries, and unified the currencies of the world into Qin Banliang!

Your Majesty, Qin Shihuang was able to unify the currency according to the needs of the country. Now that the Tang Dynasty is so powerful, it has already conquered the neighboring countries of Wa, Goguryeo, Baekje, Silla, Turkic, Tuyuhun, and Tubo. Datang territory.

The territory of my Great Tang has doubled compared to before, and the number of people has increased by nearly half. With such achievements, and now that my Great Tang caravans are all over the neighboring countries, we need a currency that is easy to carry! "

"Xuanba, don't worry, after I go back, I will immediately discuss this matter with all the ministers!"

At this time, Li Shimin was also very enthusiastic about what Li Xuan said. Among other things, during Li Shimin's reign, all the barbarian countries around the Tang Dynasty had been captured by the Tang Dynasty, and the barbarians in all directions were all subjects of the Tang Dynasty. His achievements are unprecedented in all ages!

Now, Datang is becoming more and more powerful day by day, and the requirements for currency are getting higher and higher. He must solve this matter as soon as possible.

The more he thought about it, the more Li Shimin couldn't sit still.

Immediately, he bid farewell to Li Xuan directly, and hurried back to the palace.

After returning home, the first thing Li Shimin did was to summon Fang Xuanling, Changsun Wuji, Du Ruhui, Li Xiaogong, Wei Zheng and other ministers into the Hall of Liangyi.

Afterwards, he told Fang Xuanling, Changsun Wuji and others about the banknotes and the use of gold and silver as currency.

As for this matter, Fang Xuanling, Changsun Wuji and others, after a little thought, could understand the benefits of it!

Of course, the most important thing is that they can also see that Li Shimin is very tempted by this.

The emperor of the Tang Dynasty and several prime ministers and powerful ministers of the Tang Dynasty have agreed.

The rest is much simpler.

As for the anti-counterfeiting of banknotes, Fang Xuanling, Changsun Wuji and others are not afraid.

Less than half a month's work.

A few banknotes with a width of three inches and a length of six inches were placed in front of Li Xuan.

Li Shimin sat on the sofa with Fang Xuanling, Changsun Wuji, Li Xiaogong and others, and behind him stood General Supervisor Gongsun Nian, Shaofu Supervisor Zheng Ye, and two other General Supervisor officials!

However, at this moment, Li Xuan's eyes were already firmly attracted by the few coins in front of him.

One Wen, Five Wen, Ten Wen, Fifty Wen, One Hundred Wen, One Guanqian, and One Hundred Guan were placed next to each other on the tea table. Although the paper was the same size, the pattern on each banknote was different.

Simultaneously.

The denomination size of the banknotes is written on the upper left and lower right corners of each banknote, but the upper left corner is regular script and the lower right corner is Arabic numerals!

The lower left and upper right corners are engraved patterns.

There is also a circle of exquisite patterns engraved around the banknotes.

And in the middle of the banknotes is a portrait of Li Shimin!
Li Xuan couldn't help but looked up at Li Shimin, and nodded subconsciously, at least he had an eight-point portrait.

In addition, on the side of Li Shimin's portrait, there is a large series of exquisite and neat regular script fonts. These regular script fonts are printed in different colors, cyan, scarlet, green, purple, and black, at least five kinds!
Under the regular script font, there are two serial numbers!
At the same time, on the portrait of Li Shimin, and above the regular script, there are Li Shimin's seal and the great seal of the Tang Bank!

Seeing Li Xuan nodding, Li Shimin, Fang Xuanling and others all looked happy.

"Xuanba, is this kind of banknote feasible?"

"Your Majesty, this kind of banknotes cannot be counterfeited by others, right?"

Li Xuan asked.

"Xuanba don't worry, just this portrait of me is difficult for ordinary people to copy. In addition, there are these hundred characters, the front of the characters, and the surrounding patterns, all of which were created by the two brothers Lide and Liben. There is no one in the Tang Dynasty who can imitate them! "

Li Shimin said.

On the side, Fang Xuanling, Changsun Wuji and others nodded along, obviously trusting what Li Shimin said.

Li Xuan nodded slightly, then thought of something, and asked thoughtfully: "Your Majesty, I don't know if the circle of patterns around the banknotes can be changed to dragon patterns?"

"Dragon Mark?"

Li Shimin, Fang Xuanling and others were all taken aback.

Immediately, the more I thought about it, the brighter my eyes became.

Especially Changsun Wuji, who was full of praise, "It is wonderful to engrave the dragon statue around the banknotes. When His Majesty was born, he was protected by flying dragons. Today, the crown robes worn by the emperor of the Tang Dynasty are also It is engraved with dragon patterns. The banknotes issued by His Majesty should also be engraved with dragon patterns!"

"The minister waits for the second opinion!"

Fang Xuanling, Li Xiaogong and the others quickly agreed.

Li Xuan was stunned as he listened from the sidelines. Wasn't it just to make the banknotes more exquisite and more difficult to imitate?
When Li Shimin was born, there was a flying dragon body protector?

Li Shimin smiled reservedly, looked up at the two standing behind Gongsun and Zheng Ye, "Liben, Lide, engrave a circle of dragon patterns around the banknotes, is it feasible?"

The two brothers Yan Liben and Yan Lide hurriedly bowed their hands and reported solemnly.

"Returning to Your Majesty, this matter is feasible, but it will take a lot of time and money to engrave Longwei on such a small banknote!"

Li Shimin looked at Li Xuan.

Li Xuan looked satisfied, "Your Majesty, it just needs to cost a lot! Otherwise, it would be very easy to make a banknote, and it would be very easy to prevent those thieves outside!
Moreover, only when banknotes become more and more exquisite and difficult to manufacture, people will be more likely to accept them.

If, if the banknotes produced can be liked by those Hu merchants in the Western Regions, so that they can sell the banknotes to their countries in the Western Regions, that will be a great cause through the ages! "

Hearing this, Li Shimin's eyes flashed, "Good!"

Brother Yan Liben and Yan Lide's eyes lit up, and they hurriedly bowed their hands in salute.

"Please rest assured, Your Majesty, the Weichen brothers will definitely produce the banknotes His Royal Highness Jin said as soon as possible!"

"good!"

Li Shimin nodded slightly, then looked at Li Xuan again, and continued.

"Xuanba, I am going to implement the paper money and gold and silver coins together!"

Regarding this, Li Xuan's expression was normal, anyway, he had enough gold.

"Your Majesty, how can gold and silver be exchanged for copper coins?"

"Xuanba, in the past few years, there has been less gold circulating in the Tang Dynasty, and the price of gold has been increasing. Therefore, after discussing with Auxiliary Machine, Xuan Ling and others, I decided to exchange one tael of gold for ten taels of silver, and one tael of silver would be exchanged for ten taels of silver. Exchange for regular money!"

Li Shimin said.

"Your Majesty is wise!"

Li Xuan bowed his hands directly.

The price of gold in this meeting has directly doubled compared to five years ago.

Now, there are more than 30 catties of gold stored in his Lijiazhuang, which is more than 3000 million yuan!

Thinking of this, Li Xuan couldn't help being shocked!
More than 3000 million guan?
"It's so good. As long as we have gold mines in Datang, we will be able to produce gold continuously, and the country will always be strong!"

"Exactly!"

Li Shimin also nodded slightly, "My Datang can also send a fleet to the Americas where Xuanba went two years ago, and bring back all the gold scattered on its land to Datang, and our Datang will be strong for hundreds of years !"

Hearing this, Li Xuan frowned slightly, and asked: "Your Majesty, don't my Tang Dynasty have its own gold mine?"

"Hahaha, Xuanba my Great Tang territory is so vast, how can there be no gold mines?"

Li Shimin glanced at Li Xuan strangely, and laughed directly.

"His Royal Highness King Jin, there are nineteen prefectures in the Tang Dynasty. There are Ling, Ya, Mei, Jia, Zi, and Yao states in Jiannan Road, Rao, Heng, Wu, and Taizhou in Jiangnan Road, and Rong, Rong, and Taizhou in Jiangnan Road. Xiang, Meng, Rong, and four prefectures, Shannan Road has Jin, Li, and Wan prefectures, and Longyou Road has Kuo and Yan prefectures!"

Fang Xuanling then explained to Li Xuan: "In addition, there are gold pits in Xidong of Yongzhou and Annan territory!"

"so much?"

Li Xuan was a little surprised, "Why is Your Majesty so anxious to travel thousands of miles to America to find gold?"

"Xuanba, although there is the Nineteenth State of Tributary Gold in the Tang Dynasty, these gold pits will be mined for hundreds of years, and the gold in the pits has long been sparse. Those miners have to start smelting gold ore to smelt gold. ! The gold that can be tributed to the imperial court in a year does not exceed tens of thousands of catties!"

Li Shimin explained slowly.

"I see!"

Thinking of the efficiency of people's gold refining in this era, Li Xuan nodded slowly. According to the gold smelting technology of this era, it is really difficult to extract gold from those gold ores.

"America is too far away. Your Majesty can send a fleet to Luzon Island and Tianzhu. These two places are also rich in gold!"

Hearing this, Li Shimin, Fang Xuanling and others couldn't help but move slightly.

Especially Luzon Island, Li Shimin has a very good memory. He remembers that when Li Xuan presented him with a world map for the first time, he marked Luzon on a small island country outside the South China Sea of ​​the Tang Dynasty. Gold was everywhere, and the gold was exposed in the river. !

"Xuanba, how long will it take to travel from Tang Dynasty to Lusong Kingdom?"

"From Datang..."

Li Xuan was taken aback for a moment, the territory of the Tang Dynasty is so large...

Thinking about it, he looked directly at the big map on the side.

"Your Majesty, from Chang'an to the Kingdom of Lusong, you can either take a car directly to Qingzhou, take a boat again and go south along the coastal city of Datang, and after arriving in Fuzhou all the way, go from Fuzhou to the Kingdom of Lusong!"

"Furthermore, go from Chang'an to Luoyang, then follow the Grand Canal to the mouth of the Yangtze River, then take a boat to Fuzhou, and from Fuzhou to Luzon!"

"These two routes, no matter which one, will take two months!"

"Two months?"

Hearing this, Li Shimin, Changsun Wuji and others were obviously very moved.

The journey of two months is much less than half a year to America!
Li Xuan continued: "In addition, there should be a large number of copper mines, gold mines and silver mines on Liuqiu Island. Your Majesty can send someone to investigate!"

"Liuqiu Island?"

Li Shimin, Fang Xuanling and others looked up at the small island no bigger than a palm, and nodded indifferently.

"When the fleet is going to Luzon, it happens to pass through Liuqiu, so we can go to investigate along the way!"

(End of this chapter)