Wentang

Chapter 720 Salt Ticket
"Look, the one in my hand is a thousand guan salt ticket, which is a thousand guan coin, which is the same as a thousand gold coins and a thousand guan coin." Shopkeeper Zhang said:
"Think about it, we usually have to pull hundreds of catties and thousands of catties of coins when we do big business. Nothing."

"With this bill, it will be different. Put it in the bag and hide it next to your body, and you can travel around the world, and you can use it as money anywhere."

"Do merchants in other places also recognize this bill?" Ma Zhou couldn't help but interrupted.

"Many people didn't recognize it at the beginning, but Dizhou salt merchants do. There are Dizhou salt merchants in any big city in the world, and you can exchange them for money directly." Shopkeeper Zhang continued:

"Later, more and more people recognized salt tickets. Now almost all big commercial firms recognize salt tickets. Even if they don't recognize them, they can find other nearby firms to exchange them for money."

"Aren't you afraid that someone will fake it?" Ma Zhou asked doubtfully.

"Fake it? How is it possible? Listen to it." Shopkeeper Zhang took out the salt ticket, shaking the corner gently, only to hear the crisp sound of "哗啦啦".

"Dragon head paper?" Ma Zhou's eyes lit up, and he blurted out.

"Yo, brother Taiwan is also knowledgeable, you can hear the dragon's head paper just by the sound." Shopkeeper Liu said from the side.

"This... The owner of the house likes to collect dragon head paper. I saw it at his place, so I know it." Ma Zhou took a sip from his teacup to hide his embarrassment.

Longshou paper is the best paper produced by the papermaking workshop under the name of Yueshan. The formula and production method are very special.

The key is that the quality of this kind of paper is very good, far superior to the hard yellow paper that is currently the most widely circulated, and it has become a popular item for literati as soon as it comes out.

However, the production method of this kind of paper is cumbersome, the output has not been high, and it is not sold at all.A part of Yue Shan was kept for his own use, and a part was given to honor Li Shimin and his eldest grandson Wugou.

If others want it, they can only ask for it from Yue Shan, or wait for Li Shimin to be in a good mood and reward him.

And the more so, the higher the status of Longshou Paper in everyone's mind.

Ma Zhou was sure that the bill was made of dragon head paper just by listening to the sound, which made Zhang and Liu even more sure that he was the steward of a powerful family in Beijing, and their attitude became more enthusiastic.

Shopkeeper Zhang answered, "Since Xiongtai knows the dragon head paper, you should know that this thing cannot be imitated."

But Ma Zhou said: "Although there are few dragon head papers, a lot of them have been circulated. Wouldn't it be dangerous if they fell into the hands of criminals?"

Shopkeeper Zhang said with a smile: "This is Yuehou's brilliance. The dragon's head paper used to make salt tickets has a special mark, which is not available on ordinary dragon's head paper."

With a flash of inspiration, Ma Zhou said, "Watermark?"

Now it was Zhang and Liu's turn to be surprised. It was understandable to know the dragon head paper, but it was unusual to know that the dragon head paper used by Yueshan had a special watermark.

Ma Zhou also knew that he had lost his composure, so he quickly explained:

"I once heard people say in Beijing that there are three types of dragon head paper: one is for gifting people, which is ordinary white paper. The other is for Yuehou himself, with the word 'Yue' watermarked on it. There is another The other is that the tribute has the watermark of the word 'Royal'."

"I always thought it was a legend. I suddenly thought of it after hearing what you two said, so I lost my composure. You two, I only heard that this kind of watermark is unique in the world and cannot be copied by others, but I have never seen it. I don't know if it can satisfy my desire. Curiosity let me take a look?"

The doubts of Zhang and Liu did not dispel because of this, the identity of this sudden appearance must be unusual.Maybe it really is the housekeeper of some powerful family, and it must be a top-level nobleman.

Otherwise, they wouldn't have such insight... After many inquiries, they learned that there are two types of dragon head paper with watermark and without watermark, and they never knew that there were tributes with the word "Yu".

No matter where he heard about it, it is not a simple person who has a relationship with the palace.So the attitude of the two has changed from enthusiasm to respect.

Shopkeeper Zhang hesitated for a moment and handed the receipt to Ma Zhou.

After Ma Zhou took it, he just slid his hand on the paper to confirm that it was dragon head paper. It was as smooth as a mirror, tough as green bamboo, and sound like broken jade... This is the characteristic of standard dragon head paper.

He is a fan of dragon head paper, he got some from Yue Shan, and Li Shimin gave him some, and he would take it out to appreciate it almost every day.So I am very familiar with this kind of paper and will not admit mistakes.

He didn't look at the watermark in a hurry, but looked at the face of the ticket first.

One side is simply written with a thousand guan of refined salt; the back is written with the time: it was issued on May 25, the seventh year of Zhenguan, and there is a number 310 three; besides, there is Yueshan's private seal.

Judging from the handwriting and seal, it was Yue Shan's.

Afraid that he might not understand, shopkeeper Zhang also introduced: "One thousand on the front is the value of this note, which we call the denomination, and the time on the back is the time when this note was issued. The 310 third generation is the label, which represents the value of this note. The salt ticket is the 310th and third."

Shopkeeper Liu added: "The combination of the time of issue and the label is actually a way to distinguish the authenticity."

"If you see that the date of issue is earlier than this, but the label is three-thirds larger than 310, it must be fake. Conversely, the issue date is later than this, but the label is smaller than 310-three, it is also fake."

Shopkeeper Zhang also added: "Yes, every time you see a salt ticket in the future, you will remember their issuance time and label, and you can preliminarily determine whether the salt ticket is genuine or not based on these two numbers."

Ma Zhou nodded and said, "I see, thank you for your guidance."

"Don't dare." Zhang and Liu replied quickly.

Only then did Ma Zhou lift up the bill and check it against the sun, and he found the familiar watermark of the character 'Yue'.There is no doubt at the moment, this is the salt ticket written by Yue Shan himself.

I don't know how this watermark was printed. There is no trace at all, and it is completely invisible on the surface. It can only be seen when facing the sun.

There is no one other than Yueshan's papermaking workshop that can make this kind of mark. With so many anti-counterfeiting marks, it is really difficult for others to fake it. No wonder these people dare to use it as money.

But all the doubts in his heart were not solved, and after returning the salt ticket to shopkeeper Zhang, he continued to ask: "But why did you two buy it at a premium, and it seems that you mentioned the Royal Commercial Bank?"

This time Shopkeeper Liu responded first: "There are two reasons for the premium. The first is convenience. Many merchants who often do large business are willing to buy at a premium, which saves the trouble of carrying a large amount of gold and silver."

"The second point is that it can indeed buy a lot of goods first. For example, the salt from the Dizhou Salt Farm has been queued for three months. If you have a salt ticket, you can pick up the salt on the spot."

"There is also the Royal Commercial Bank. I don't know why they want to intervene. With the salt ticket, you can get all kinds of goods that are in short supply from them without queuing."

"Time is money. Getting the goods in advance is like picking up money for nothing. Especially the goods from Dizhou Salt and Huangshang, if shipped to other places, the profit will be several times. Naturally, everyone is willing to buy salt tickets at a premium."

Shopkeeper Zhang also interjected: "The Royal Commercial Bank is not only involved in the sale of salt tickets, most of the current salt tickets come from them. A few years ago, Yue Hou often issued tasks, and the merchants could get salt tickets after they completed them." .”

"It's just that the old man has rarely issued tasks in the past few years, and it's rare to have one or two orders a year, which is not enough at all."

"The Royal Commercial Bank is the business of the Queen's Empress. They have a way to get salt tickets from Yue Hou, and they often find excuses to release a batch."

Ma Zhou asked puzzledly, "Isn't the Imperial Commercial Bank short of money? Why do they still have to release salt tickets?"

Shopkeeper Zhang said: "The Royal Commercial Bank is not short of money, but many things cannot be done with money. There are some difficult things that the Royal Commercial Bank cannot handle, or the cost is too high, so they will use the power of the people."

Ma Zhou explained: "What I mean is, can't they just pay the people to do something? Why should they give salt tickets?"

Shopkeeper Zhang said with a smile: "Even the Royal Commercial Bank thinks that tricky things are more troublesome for others to do. This is no longer a question of money. Without enough attractive means, folks will not take up these tasks unless they are willing." Offer sky-high prices."

"But they might as well do it themselves if they pay a sky-high price. It's just a little more trouble. Salt tickets are the best way to achieve the best of both worlds. Everyone is willing to take risks for salt tickets."

"Besides, ordinary businessmen dislike the inconvenience of carrying cash for large transactions. Doesn't the Royal Commercial Bank have any concerns in this regard?"

"The business of the Royal Commercial Bank is bigger. Compared with ordinary merchants like us, they need salt tickets more, and they are naturally happy to use salt tickets."

Ma Zhou was even more puzzled, and said: "Wait a minute, you said that the Royal Commercial Bank paid a thousand guan to hire people to do things, and no one was willing to go, but they were willing to pay a thousand guan salt tickets, right?"

"Correct."

"You need a premium to buy and sell salt tickets privately, right?"

"Correct."

"One thousand guan salt coupons to pick up the goods at the Imperial Commercial Bank or the salt farm, and you can only pick up the one thousand guan worth of goods, right?"

"Correct."

Ma Zhou asked, "Why?"

Zhang and Liu looked at each other and said, "It's convenient and saves time."

Ma Zhou rubbed his forehead, these questions were beyond his comprehension.He vaguely understood something, but when he thought about it carefully, he felt that he didn't understand anything. This feeling was uncomfortable.

"I'm asking a question. Since the Royal Commercial Bank issued the mission to the outside world, why didn't they issue the receipt themselves, but use Yue Hou's salt ticket? Isn't this too troublesome?"

Shopkeeper Liu said with a smile: "It's okay to trouble you. We wouldn't dare to use it if it wasn't for your trouble. Let's put it this way, the folks only recognize Yuehou's salt ticket, let alone the Huangshang Bank. Useless."

Shopkeeper Zhang followed suit and said, "Yes, we believe in Marquis Yue, we don't trust the Royal Commercial Bank, and we don't trust those dignitaries in the court."

"This..." Ma Zhou became more and more confused.

You believe that Yueshan's notes are used as money, but you don't believe in the court?
If he can still try to understand the development of Dizhou, then the matter about the salt ticket is completely beyond his understanding.

Besides, Zhang and Liu seemed to recognize that he was a big shot from the capital, and they kept asking him what kind of business he was in. They also hinted whether he had a way to get salt tickets from the Royal Commercial Bank, and they were willing to buy them at a premium.

Naturally, Ma Zhou wouldn't tell the truth, he stayed with them for a while, and when he realized that there was nothing new to talk about, he got up and left.

Zhang and Liu were still reluctant to part, and they were ready to get up and see each other off.

Then I found that the group of people at the next table also got up and walked out at the same time, and the person who was chatting with them just walked a few steps quickly and followed behind this group of people, obviously they belonged to the same group.

These two people belatedly realized that things might not be as simple as they imagined, but they still couldn't think of the identity of this group of people.

Later, it occurred to me that the emperor seemed to be in Dizhou City. Could it be that this group of people were private visits by important figures?They didn't dare to think about the private visit of the emperor's Weifu, but even so they were shocked.

He didn't even bother to eat, so he just slipped away.Who knows if I said something offensive just now, it's better to leave early.

Besides, Li Shimin and others heard it clearly, and they were also very puzzled what was going on.But one thing is very clear, the salt ticket written by Yue Shan can be used directly as money, even better than money.

Everyone was thinking about their own calculations, but no one spoke.I also lost interest in continuing to go shopping, and returned directly to the Dizhou government office.

Li Shimin asked Changsun Wuji to stay, while the others left wisely.

"Auxiliary machine, what do you think of this matter?"

"I believe in Yue Cuilan and will not do stupid things." Changsun Wuji said in an affirmative tone without hesitation.

His decisiveness surprised even Li Shimin, but he felt it should be taken for granted.After all, the two parties still have relatives, and it is normal to have competition, but there will be no ambiguity when it comes to such major issues.

So Li Shimin was very satisfied with his answer, and felt that he had read him correctly: "I also believe that Cuilan will not do stupid things, but I just don't understand why those businessmen are willing to use the bills issued by him instead of using Huangshang or from the household department."

If it was before Li Lizhi's child was born, he would still be worried.Now that there are two children here, he is not afraid of Yue Shan daring to do stupid things.

Changsun Wuji hesitated and said, "This..."

"If you have something to say directly, I won't blame you." Li Shimin said.

"That minister is talking nonsense. Since ancient times, the people have not fought against officials, and the poor have not fought against the rich, because no matter who is right, the strong side always takes advantage, and the weak side has nothing to do." Changsun Wuji said:

"This bill is said to be a piece of paper when worn, and has no real value." The reason why it is valuable is that Yuehou's reputation and Dizhou Salt Works are used as guarantees. People believe that they can buy enough salt with the bill at any time. "

"Imperial Commercial Bank and the Ministry of Households are not good. What if they refuse to accept the account? These papers will really become waste paper. The Imperial Commercial Bank is the business of the royal family, and the Ministry of Households is a high-ranking government office. Do the people dare to ask them to reason? "

"Besides, Yuehou's reputation among the people is high enough, especially in Dizhou, he is regarded as a god. In the eyes of merchants, he is the living Tao Zhugong and Yidun. It is said that many merchants regard him as God of Wealth."

Li Shimin said dumbfoundedly: "Haven't they read Cuilan's book? His book doesn't speak highly of businessmen, and he advocates restricting businessmen's rights."

Changsun Wuji said: "That's true, but he also advocates facing up to the positive role of business and businessmen. While taking precautions, we should also give them a certain living space. Compared with other theories, his knowledge is very tolerant to businessmen. .”

Li Shimin shook his head and said: "He can always walk ahead of everyone, and many seemingly dispensable things often play a surprising role in the end."

"Book of the Three Emperors, Book of the Three Emperors, I want to know more and more what is written in it."

Changsun Wuji also said longingly: "I also want to see the real face. Unfortunately, this is his chance that others can't get it."

Li Shimin shook his head and said, "Forget it, let's not talk about this. Do you think we can follow the example of salt bills and issue a batch of other bills, or directly use paper money instead of coins to make up for the lack of coins?"

(End of this chapter)