Chapter 836 Your Majesty, you can introduce banknotes!
Li Shimin's eyes lit up, "What does Xuan Ba mean?"
Seeing that Li Shimin understood, Li Xuan nodded slightly and then explained in detail.
"Your Majesty, let banknotes replace deposit certificates. The rich and powerful businessmen will be given as many banknotes as they save in copper coins! Datang Bank only recognizes banknotes, not people. As long as someone goes to the bank to withdraw money with banknotes, Datang Bank will give them
He withdraws money.
Presumably, in this way, those powerful and wealthy businessmen will like the existence of banknotes even more!"
"Of course, the banknotes issued by Datang Bank must be easy to carry and beautiful. The paper size only needs to be as large as hand-made paper, and the amount can be one coin, five coins, ten coins, fifty coins, one hundred coins, etc.
, one hundred strings!
With these banknotes, merchants only need to carry dozens of one-guan or one-hundred-guan banknotes with them when they go out to do business.
Even if some vendors and villagers also like to use banknotes to buy and sell items, that would be great!"
"It's just that, Your Majesty, the biggest disadvantage of paper money under such rules is that it is easy to be counterfeited! Therefore, when Your Majesty wants to issue banknotes, you need to be careful of some thieves who counterfeit the banknotes privately.
When your Majesty prints banknotes, he must choose paper that is difficult for ordinary people and even wealthy families to use.
From then on, the paper required for banknotes can only be used exclusively by the imperial court, and no aristocratic family or private individuals are allowed to purchase it!"
"In addition, the banknotes need to be engraved with complex and exquisite patterns and patterns, as well as the large seal of Datang Bank. Alternatively, His Majesty's portrait can be printed on the banknotes, and His Majesty can write unique words on the banknotes, leaving behind a hidden
The secret question number makes it difficult for counterfeiters to imitate!"
"The cost of counterfeiters must be higher than that of banknotes, so that this phenomenon can be fundamentally prevented from happening! Only in this way can banknotes be issued!"
"Finally, Your Majesty can also set up coin discerners in the Tang Dynasty banks in the various cities of the Tang Dynasty to help the people and merchants identify the authenticity of banknotes, and also to popularize the knowledge about banknotes to the people and educate the people and merchants.
, how to identify the authenticity of banknotes!”
"In this way, in just a few years, when the Tang Dynasty Bank becomes popular among 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 looked shocked, "Xuanba, how can paper money replace copper coins?"
"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 purchase some objects and commodities. As long as your Majesty can guarantee that the banknotes issued by the Tang Dynasty will not be easily used by others.
Counterfeiting, then sooner or later people will accept banknotes."
"This matter is of great importance. I need to discuss it with all the ministers in the DPRK and China!"
Li Shimin was already a little moved at this moment, but as an emperor, he had to discuss matters like this with the officials regarding matters related to the livelihood of thousands of people.
"Um!"
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 Dynasty Bank will not be counterfeited by others, especially those from big families
If they are counterfeited, then you must not issue banknotes!"
"I understand!"
Li Shimin nodded solemnly.
"Of course, besides paper money, there is another way!"
After thinking for a while, 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 had collected a large amount of gold over the years, Li Shimin gave Li Xuan a strange look.
"Your Majesty, silver and gold are both very scarce metals, even rarer than copper. Moreover, silver and gold are expressions of wealth in the hearts of the common people and the hearts of powerful families. Even if thousands of years pass, the relationship between silver and gold will not be the same.
The value will still exist. However, the biggest disadvantage compared with paper money is that silver and gold are metals and are not easy to carry!"
Li Xuan did not think so much, but continued: "Your Majesty, it is said that during the ancient Xia Dynasty, people did not have copper coins, so they used seashells as currency to buy items. After that, the three Jin Dynasties in the Central Plains had cloth coins, and Yan and Zhao
Qi has sword coins, Qin has round coins!
Later, Qin destroyed the six countries, unified the world, abolished the mixed currencies of the six countries, and unified the world's currencies into Qin Banliang!
Your Majesty, Qin Shihuang was able to unify the currency according to the needs of the country. Now the Tang Dynasty is so powerful that it has already conquered the neighboring vassal states of Japan, Goguryeo, Baekje, Silla, Turks, Tuyuhun, and Tubo, and has become our country.
The territory of the Tang Dynasty.
Our territory of the Tang Dynasty has doubled than before, and our subjects have increased by nearly half. With such achievements, coupled with the fact that our Datang caravans are now spread all over the surrounding countries, we need an easy-to-carry currency!"
"Don't worry, Xuanba. I will discuss this matter with all the ministers immediately after I return!"
At this moment, Li Shimin was also excited by what Li Xuan said. Among other things, during his reign, all the barbarian countries around the Tang Dynasty were conquered by the Tang Dynasty. The barbarians from all directions were all subjects of the Tang Dynasty. Such a huge
His achievements are unprecedented in history!
Nowadays, Datang is becoming more and more powerful day by day, and its 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 said goodbye to Li Xuan and hurried back to the palace.
After returning, the first thing Li Shimin did was to summon Fang Xuanling, Changsun Wuji, Du Ruhui, Li Xiaogong, Wei Zheng and other ministers into the Liangyi Hall.
Afterwards, he told Fang Xuanling, Changsun Wuji and others about paper money and the use of gold and silver as currency.
Regarding this matter, Fang Xuanling, Changsun Wuji and others can understand the benefits after just a little thought!
Of course, the most important thing is that they can all see that Li Shimin is very tempted by this.
The Emperor of the Tang Dynasty, several prime ministers of the Tang Dynasty, and powerful ministers all agreed.
The rest is much simpler.
As for the prevention of counterfeiting of banknotes, Fang Xuanling, Changsun Wuji and others are not even afraid.
It takes less than half a month.
Several three-inch wide and six-inch long banknotes were placed in front of Li Xuan.
Li Shimin sat on the sofa with Fang Xuanling, Changsun Wuji, Li Xiaogong and others. Behind him stood Gongsun Nian, the general supervisor, Zheng Ye, the Shaofu supervisor, and two other general supervisors!
However, Li Xuan's eyes were already attracted by the few coins in front of him.
One coin, five coins, ten coins, fifty coins, one hundred coins, one banknote, one hundred coins, are placed next to each other on the coffee table. Although the papers are the same size, the patterns on each banknote are different.
at the same time.
The denomination of the note is written on the upper left and lower right corners of each banknote, but the upper left corner is in regular script and the lower right corner is in Arabic numerals!
The lower left and upper right corners are engraved with patterns.
There is also a circle of exquisite patterns engraved around the banknotes.
And in the middle of the banknotes is Li Shimin's portrait!
Li Xuan couldn't help but look up at Li Shimin and nodded subconsciously. He looked like him at least eight points.
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, at least five kinds: cyan, scarlet, green, purple, plus black!
Under the regular script font, there are two serial numbers!
At the same time, on Li Shimin's portrait and regular script, there are Li Shimin's seal and the Great Tang Bank's seal!
Seeing Li Xuan nodding, Li Shimin, Fang Xuanling and others all looked happy.
"Xuanba, is this kind of banknote feasible?"
"Your Majesty, no one else can copy this kind of banknotes, right?"
Li Xuan asked.
"Xuan Ba, don't worry, my portrait alone is difficult for ordinary people to copy. In addition, the hundred characters, the front of the characters, and the surrounding patterns are all original creations of Li De and Li Ben brothers. No one in the Tang Dynasty can imitate it!
"
Li Shimin said.
On the side, Fang Xuanling, Changsun Wuji and others all nodded, obviously trusting what Li Shimin said.
Li Xuan nodded slightly, then thought of something, and asked thoughtfully: "Your Majesty, I wonder if the pattern around the banknotes can be changed to a dragon pattern?"
"Dragon pattern?"
Li Shimin, Fang Xuanling and others were all stunned.
Then, the more I thought about it, the brighter my eyes became.
Especially Changsun Wuji, who was full of praise, "It is wonderful to engrave dragon statues around the banknotes. When your Majesty was born, there were flying dragons to protect him. Now, the emperor of the Tang Dynasty wears the same crown as the emperor."
It is engraved with a dragon pattern. The banknotes issued by His Majesty should also be engraved with a dragon pattern!"
"I second the proposal!"
Fang Xuanling, Li Xiaogong and others quickly agreed.
Li Xuan was dumbfounded as he listened. Isn't it just to make the banknotes more beautiful and more difficult to counterfeit? Why is there an extra piece of worldliness?
When Li Shimin was born, was there still a flying dragon protecting his body?
Li Shimin smiled reservedly and looked up at the two people standing behind Gongsun and Zheng Ye, "To establish the foundation and morality, it is possible to engrave a dragon pattern around the banknotes. Is this feasible?"
Brothers Yan Liben and Yan Lide quickly bowed their hands and reported the report with solemn expressions.
"Your Majesty, this is possible, but if you want to imprint the dragon's power on such a small banknote, it will consume a lot of time and money!"
Li Shimin looked at Li Xuan.
Li Xuan looked satisfied, "Your Majesty, it just costs a lot of money! Otherwise, it is very simple to make a banknote, and it will be very easy to prevent the thieves outside!
Moreover, only when banknotes become more and more exquisite and difficult to make, people will be more likely to accept them.
If the paper money produced can be liked by those merchants from the Western Regions, so that they can sell the paper money to their countries in the Western Regions, that will be a great achievement for the ages!"
Hearing this, Li Shimin's eyes flashed, "Good!"
Brothers Yan Liben and Yan Lide's eyes lit up and they quickly bowed their hands.
"Your Majesty, please rest assured that the two Weichen brothers will produce the banknotes mentioned by His Highness Prince Jin as soon as possible!"
"good!"
Li Shimin nodded slightly, then looked at Li Xuan and continued.
"Xuanba, I am going to use paper money together with gold and silver coins!"
In response, Li Xuan looked as normal, he had enough gold anyway.
"Your Majesty, how can gold and silver be exchanged for copper coins?"
"Xuanba, there has been less gold circulating in the Tang Dynasty in recent years, and the price of gold has increased day by day. Therefore, I discussed with the auxiliary machine, Xuan Ling and others and decided to exchange one tael of gold for ten taels of silver, and one tael of silver, then
Exchange regular money!”
Li Shimin said.
"Your Majesty is wise!"
Li Xuan directly bowed his hands.
The price of gold now has doubled from five years ago.
Now, there are more than 300,000 kilograms of gold stored in his Li Family Village, which is more than 30 million gold!
Thinking of this, Li Xuan couldn't help but be shocked!
More than 30 million yuan?
"This is very good. As long as we, Datang, have gold mines, we will be able to continuously produce gold and the country will always be strong!"
"Exactly!"
Li Shimin also nodded slightly, "We, the Tang Dynasty, can also send a fleet to the Americas where Xuanba went two years ago to pick up all the gold scattered on the land and bring it back to the Tang Dynasty. Then our Datang Dynasty can be strong for hundreds of years."
!”
Hearing this, Li Xuan frowned slightly and asked: "Your Majesty, our Datang does not have its own gold mine?"
"Hahaha, Xuanba, our Tang Dynasty has such a vast territory, how come there are no gold mines?"
Li Shimin glanced at Li Xuan strangely and laughed directly.
"His Royal Highness the King of Jin, there are nineteen states in the Tang Dynasty that receive tribute gold. There are Ling, Ya, Mei, Jia, Zi, Yao and Qizhou on Jiannan Road. There are Rao, Heng, Wu, and Taizhou on Jiangnan Road. There are Rong on Lingnan Road.
There are four states of Xiang, Meng, and Rong, Shannan Road has three states of Jin, Li, and Wan, and Longyou Road has two states of Kuo and Yan!”
Fang Xuanling then explained to Li Xuan: "In addition, there are gold pits in Xidong of Yongzhou and in Annan!"
"so much?"
Li Xuan was a little surprised, "Why is Your Majesty so anxious to go to the sea thousands of miles away to find gold in America?"
"Xuanba, although our Tang Dynasty has nineteen states that pay tribute to gold, these gold pits will be mined for hundreds of years. The gold in the pits has already become sparse. Those miners already need to start smelting gold ore in order to smelt out gold.
!The total amount of gold that can be contributed to the imperial court in a year does not exceed tens of thousands of catties!"
Li Shimin slowly explained.
"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 look slightly moved.
Especially Luzon Island, Li Shimin has a very good memory. He remembers that when Li Xuan presented him with a map of the world for the first time, he marked Luzon on a small island country outside the South China Sea of the Tang Dynasty. There was gold all over the land, and the gold was exposed in the river.
!
"Xuanba, how long does it take to travel from the Tang Dynasty to Luzon?"
"From the Tang Dynasty..."
Li Xuan was stunned. The Tang Dynasty had such a huge land area...
Thinking about it, he looked directly at the big map on one side.
"Your Majesty, from Chang'an to the Kingdom of Luzon, you can either drive directly to Qingzhou, take a boat again and go south along the coastal cities of the Tang Dynasty, arrive all the way in Fuzhou, and then go from Fuzhou to the Kingdom of Luzon!"
"Furthermore, it is to go from Chang'an to Luoyang, then follow the Grand Canal to the Yangtze River estuary, then take a boat to Fuzhou, and from Fuzhou to Luzon!"
"Both of 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.
A journey of two months is much shorter than half a year to the Americas!
Li Xuan continued: "In addition, there should be a large number of copper, gold and silver mines on Liuqiu Island. Your Majesty can send people to investigate!"
"Liuqiu Island?"
Li Shimin, Fang Xuanling and others looked up at the small island, which was no bigger than a palm, and nodded indifferently.
"When the fleet is heading to Luzon, it happens to pass by Liuqiu, so we can go and explore it along the way!"