Late Yuan Dynasty: I am the true emperor

Chapter 373: Year-end Military and Political Conference (Part ) (asking for monthly votes)
Liu Zhang fished out the soaked salt and iron voucher, squeezed it dry in his hand to squeeze out excess water, and shook it. Although it was covered with wrinkles, it was not damaged at all. When he passed it to other people, everyone was stunned.

When it was passed to Li Shanchang and Feng Guoyong, Feng Guoyong was surprised and asked, "Forget it, don't tell us about the paper of this new banknote. Such a magical thing must be difficult to make, so it is better to keep it secret."

Liu Zhang immediately said, "In fact, the new banknotes, from the sample to the paper and the printing, were all personally directed by the Marshal. I just helped find the craftsmen and materials and tried to produce them according to the Marshal's instructions."

Upon hearing this, everyone couldn't help but look at Lu Jin. They suddenly remembered that their commander was a direct descendant of the Gongshu clan, so it was not surprising that he could make such magical paper.

Li Shanchang frowned and said, "This new banknote is in very good condition, and the paper is very tough, but I don't know how much it costs. If the cost is too high, won't we lose money even if we print the banknotes? Can you tell me about this?"

Lu Jin said immediately, "In fact, there is nothing that cannot be said. It is okay to tell you something. The paper of the new banknote is made of a mixture of six materials, none of which are rare. Three of the main materials are cotton, sesame, and poplar wood. These three account for 80% of the total, and the other 20% are the other three auxiliary materials.

"Kapok is a very common thing, and not much is needed for papermaking, but it is better than cutting mulberry trees and peeling their bark. Although sesame is not widely grown, it is also grown in Luzhou, and we only need to take some of the scraps that cannot be used for weaving. Poplar is not a precious wood, it is also very common, and the amount used is relatively small.

“Among the other three auxiliary materials, one is more expensive, but there will be cheaper alternatives in the future. Overall, the cost is still acceptable.

“It is precisely because the main materials of this kind of paper are cotton and linen, which are originally used for weaving, that it is more like cloth than paper. This is why it can withstand water without falling apart or rotting. Of course, to make cotton and linen so tough and strong, the three auxiliary materials and craftsmanship are also indispensable.

"Although the cost is indeed not low, isn't it precisely to save costs that the new banknotes are made so small? I also think that the previous treasure notes were too big and not very convenient to hold and use. The size of the new banknotes is very suitable."

As Lu Jin spoke, he took a stack of new banknotes and started counting them. The speed at which he counted the money made everyone's eyelids jump. Why did it seem that this lord was so skilled in counting money?
Li Shanchang nodded after hearing this. "Then it seems that the cost should not be too high. However, I heard that papermaking usually takes at least several months and at most a year. This kind of cotton and linen paper seems to be made very quickly? It won't affect the speed of issuing banknotes, right?"

"That won't happen." Lu Jin answered immediately, "Papermaking takes a long time, mainly because of the fermentation and bleaching. In fact, pulping and papermaking don't take much time.

"Cotton and linen are similar to finished pulp, and cotton is naturally white, which saves a lot of time for natural bleaching and decolorization. Therefore, this kind of banknote paper only needs to prepare materials, beat pulp, and make paper. As long as the materials can be supplied, production is still very fast."

The formula of this banknote paper is 55% cotton fiber, 5% flax fiber, and 20% poplar wood pulp. These three account for 80% of the total. The other three auxiliary materials that Lu Jin did not mention are actually 7% filler (slaked lime), 10% whitening filler (kaolin), which is the white porcelain clay used for firing ceramics. Dingyuan and Lu'an both produce it, and 3% is also the most expensive complex dry strength agent to ensure that the above five materials can be firmly bonded together. In fact, it is wheat pregelatinized starch.
Pregelatinized starch is a dry strength agent commonly used in the modern papermaking industry. It can increase the strength and toughness of paper and improve printing performance.

After starch is hydrolyzed, it will gelatinize at high temperatures. When it is boiled at 50 to 60 degrees, it will decompose and form molecular chains. When added to paper pulp, it can firmly lock other fibers and mineral particles. It is similar to the principle of adding glutinous rice to cement. This will prevent the paper from falling apart or rotting when soaked in water. In fact, it is the paste used to paste couplets in rural areas.
The method of making starch is also very simple. First, knead the wheat flour into dough, then knead it in water, and what is left after washing is gluten, and what is dissolved in the water is starch. Then let it stand to settle and dry, and you can get dry starch, but it is still raw flour at this time.

If you mix the dry starch with water, put it on a plate and steam it, you can make cold noodles.
If you first add raw starch to water and boil it into a paste, and then dry the paste and grind it into powder, this is pre-gelatinized starch. It is translucent and can be added directly to the paper pulp to play a bonding role without secondary heating.

For the time being, wheat starch is indeed not cheap, but in the future it can be replaced by cheaper sweet potato starch and tapioca starch.

Starch is also a very common basic material in the industry. For example, packaging cartons, shoe boxes, and the like, which are made of three or five layers of corrugated paper, are made of cooked starch. How many cartons are consumed every day in the world, and how much starch is consumed? Not to mention the consumption in textiles, pharmaceuticals, and construction, which are all food!

So even if it is not for food, even if you want to engage in industry, you must get back the sweet potatoes and cassava, otherwise the cheap starch will be useless.

It is understandable that paper does not fall apart when soaked in water. As for why the ink on it does not smudge or stain when it comes into contact with water, it is because this is not water-based ink, but printing ink. The oil used to mix the ink is based on linseed oil, and turpentine oil with super penetrating power is added. It can penetrate the paper base and the color is firm and does not fade. Adding raw tung oil can not only make the ink dry quickly, but also form a protective paint film to brighten the ink color.

Although Lu Jin cannot produce color-changing ink now, the words printed with this ink can also sparkle in the sun, mainly because the paint film formed by tung oil has a good reflective effect.

Products printed with this blended ink will not dissolve if they are not soaked in water for a long time.
Li Shanchang heard this and said, "Since the materials are not expensive and the production is not slow, then I have no problem. Print and issue them as soon as possible. Otherwise, we will always rely on physical goods for circulation. It is not a problem to have no currency. Take this pension reward as an example. It would be better if we can issue banknotes directly. In this way, we can also save a lot of food expenses."

Lu Jin nodded and was about to say something when Qin Conglong, who had been silent, raised a new question.

"General, there is one thing I don't understand. I can understand the text of the new banknotes, but what do the fen, jiao, and yuan mean? Why don't you just use the original wen and guan? And why are there only three denominations of 1, 3, and 5 for the new banknotes? Why don't you print more of them?"

Lu Jin raised his chin towards Liu Zhang and said, "Mr. Liu, you answer."

"Yes." Liu Zhang immediately introduced, "This salt and iron voucher, that is, the new banknote, is directly tied to salt and iron, but it also relies on physical currency as a value standard, just like weights, or the scale star on a scale. Therefore, in addition to the new banknotes, we also minted new coins.

"There are two types of new coins. One is the newly minted 'Gongyuan Tongbao', each of which is equivalent to one penny of the new banknote. The other is made of platinum, round and without holes. According to the public measurement, each weighs six coins, equivalent to eight coins and two cents in the Yuan system, weighing 30 grams. It contains % silver and % copper and tin to increase hardness and ensure durability."

As Liu Zhang spoke, he took apart the copper coins and silver dollars and distributed them to each person, then continued.

"The exchange rate of the new currency is 1,000 wen for one guan, and one guan is exchanged for one silver dollar, which is equivalent to one liang of silver. As for fen and jiao, they are in accordance with the common practice of using silver.

"The Marshal said that there are many inconveniences in using silver in private transactions. Not only is it difficult for the people to identify the fineness, but the silver ingots are also too big to make change. They have to be weighed on a scale when passing them around, and sometimes they have to be cut into small pieces. These small pieces are commonly known as silver coins, so coins are used as currency. One silver dollar can be exchanged for 10 coins, one jiao for 10 cents, and one fen for 10 wen. All of them use the decimal system for easy calculation."

Wang Guangyang, who was standing next to him, weighed the silver dollar in his hand and asked, "It's only eight cents and two cents in the Yuan system, but it's used as one ounce of silver. Can the people accept this?"

Lu Jin explained, "It is definitely no problem to use it. When ordinary people use silver, firstly, it is difficult to identify the purity, and secondly, it often needs to be cut into small pieces for use. The people need to bear the fire consumption themselves. As a result, they can't use one tael of silver as one tael, so they always lose some money.

"If it is made into silver dollars, they don't have to identify it themselves. One dollar is one tael, and change can be made with dimes and cents. There is no need to cut it into small pieces, and there is no need to bear the cost of burning. It is much more convenient than before. If it is only used as money instead of being melted down to make other objects, then the people will not lose out. Only those who want to melt down the silver dollars to make objects will lose out."

In fact, the silver coins of the Republic of China weighed less than one or two taels. The most widely circulated Yuan Datou weighed only 26.6 grams, which is equivalent to seven coins and two cents of the Qing Dynasty. The silver content was about 89%. Didn't the people still use it?
The silver coin weighs 30 grams, which is thicker than the Yuan Datou. Why don't people recognize it? Besides, he never thought that the silver coin could be circulated now, but just used it as an anchor for the value of paper money.
Zhou Zhen, the new director of the Ministry of Finance, also asked, "The previous Yuan Dynasty treasure notes were all in wen, with ten wen, one hundred wen, one guan, two guan, etc. This new note rashly uses new units, becoming wen, fen, jiao, and yuan. Can the people adapt to it?"

Liu Zhang introduced again, "We have also considered this point, so we have specially written the value of each new banknote. For example, the new banknote with a face value of one cent has '10 cents' written on it, the new banknote with a face value of three cents has '300 cents' written on it, and the new banknote with a face value of one yuan has '1,000 cents' written on it. Even if the people don't know the difference between cents, corners and yuan, the amount of money is written on it, so it is not a problem to use it.

"It also helps people distinguish the denominations of the new banknotes. Four colors are used for the text, points, corners, and rounds. The larger the denomination, the larger the paper size. This helps people identify and distinguish them. This is much more convenient than counting banknotes before."

Everyone nodded when they heard this. The old banknotes were all made from the same mold, with the same size and color. You couldn't just stack them up and count them. You had to take each one out and look at it to know the denomination. The new banknotes are much easier. You can just put the same color and size together and count them. Qian Yongren, the head of the Criminal Law Department, also asked, "I see there are Western characters and Arab numbers on this new banknote, and it seems that each one is different. What is it for?"

Liu Zhang explained again, "This is the unique number proposed by the Marshal. From now on, each batch of new banknotes in the printing factory will be printed with an independent number. This is convenient for counting the number of banknotes issued and for tracking down counterfeit banknotes. Because each new banknote has a unique number, it is impossible for two identical new banknotes to exist in the world. If there are two, there must be only one real banknote, and the rest are counterfeit banknotes, which is also convenient for tracking down counterfeit banknotes."

"So that's how it is. This is a good idea!" Qian Yongren praised immediately.

秦从龙则是继续追问，“我刚才还有个疑问，为何这新钞不如元廷的宝钞面额那么全？至元通行宝钞就有5文、10文、20文、30文、50文、100文、200文、300文、500文、一贯、两贯的面额，为何新钞却只有一三五三种面额？”

Liu Zhang immediately explained, "I didn't think of this problem at first, but I understood it after the general reminded me. The general once said that the people who printed the treasure notes for the Yuan court must not be good at mathematics, which caused a lot of waste to the country."

"What do you mean?" Qin Conglong was suddenly confused.

Liu Zhang said, "The purpose of doing this is mainly to save the cost of printing money, because from the perspective of mathematics and daily use, in the decimal unit, the ten numbers used in daily life are 'one to ten'. People only need to collect this 'ten' to exchange for a higher level of currency.

"In use, 'one' is the most basic and most commonly used denomination, and it must be used. 'five' is the denomination that saves the most printing costs, one piece can satisfy half of ten, and it must be used. As for the remaining two denominations of 'two and three', in fact, only one is needed. Printing both denominations will cause waste, because they are difficult to use in normal times.

"If you don't believe me, you can try it. Use the four numbers 1, 2, 3, and 5. If you want to make a whole number of ten, one and five should remain unchanged. You can either use three one-cent bills, one two-cent bill, and one five-cent bill; or you can use two one-cent bills, one three-cent bill, and one five-cent bill. In these two combinations, two and three cannot appear at the same time. Printing only one of them will be enough. Printing more than one is a complete waste.

"If you don't believe me, think back to when we used Baochao before. Did you use 20 wen and 30 wen at the same time? How many times did you use them at the same time? Of course, you can use 20 wen, 30 wen, and 50 wen. You only need three bills to make up the integer of ten, but you won't have 10 wen as change.

"Therefore, you only need to choose one of the two middle denominations, 2 and 3. Because of the two different combinations, using '125' to make a whole number of 10 requires at least five new notes, while using '135' to make a whole number only requires four new notes. Therefore, using the denomination combination of '135' is the most cost-saving method for printing banknotes.

"Don't underestimate the difference between a single piece of paper and a single one. But if we print tens or hundreds of millions of pieces, we can save 20% of the printing cost, which is not a small amount."

Everyone looked at each other in surprise, and suddenly they understood. Qin Conglong took the lead and bowed to Lu Jin, saying, "My lord is good at calculations. You can be my teacher. I will learn from you."

Seeing this, the others also bowed and said, "Thank you for your advice."

Lu Jin waved his hands and sighed, "This is just common math knowledge, but the Yuan court is a great country with a vast territory and hundreds of millions of people. How could no one in the world find the flaws in the treasure notes? How could they waste so many resources on printing the treasure notes every year?

"You are all Confucian disciples, but Confucius also advocated the six arts of a gentleman, which are ritual, music, archery, charioteering, calligraphy and mathematics. It's fine that you can't ride a horse or drive a car, or bend a bow and shoot an arrow, but even mathematics, a subject that requires pen and paper, is not studied by many people.

"Although the Han Dynasty only respected Confucianism, the Confucian scholars of the Han Dynasty were able to master both civil and military skills. They could pacify the world with their pens and decide the fate of the world with their martial arts. If the Confucian scholars were still as ambitious as they were in the Han and Tang Dynasties, why would the Tartars occupy China? In the Han and Tang Dynasties, China was the only country that could beat up the surrounding barbarians!
"Confucius traveled around the world with a sword in hand, and was strong enough to lift a city gate. Among his 72 disciples, how many were bandits and robbers who were defeated by him? If Confucius could live again, he would definitely curse that today's Confucian scholars are a disgrace to Confucianism!"

Everyone present was embarrassed when he heard this. Lu Jin pointed at their noses and cursed Confucianism. As Confucian disciples, they were powerless to refute him because what Lu Jin said was the truth. The six arts of a gentleman used to be the specialty of Confucian scholars, but now they have long been thrown away.
Lu Jin took a breath and said, "In the future, the imperial examinations and local education should gradually restore the military examinations and the mathematics examinations. Those who fail to meet the requirements in these two subjects cannot be officials! When I was recruiting artillerymen in Jiankang, I didn't even have a mathematical talent. They couldn't even calculate the trajectory of artillery. All the soldiers had to be taught from scratch. Will this be the case even after we pacify the world in the future?"

Everyone opened their mouths wide when they heard this. Wang Guangyang immediately asked, "My lord, I can understand that the imperial examination will be restored to the Ming Suan exam, but I'm afraid it's beyond our ability to ask all the scholars in the world to learn martial arts, horse riding and archery, right?"

Lu Jin explained, "Have you read Han Feizi? Do you know the stories of carving a boat to find a sword and waiting for a rabbit by a tree stump? Things change over time. We cannot wait for rabbits by a tree stump, nor can we blindly follow the old ways. It is certainly unrealistic to ask every scholar to learn horse riding and archery, but this is not a reason for Confucian scholars to be powerless.

"What the country needs are officials who are smart, strong and capable. If you go to places like Saibei and Lingnan to be an official, how can you do it without a good body? A sickly Jinshi died of illness just after arriving at the place and before taking office. What use is there for the country to have such a person?"

Everyone was speechless at the question, and Lu Jin continued.

"Therefore, future education cannot rigidly teach students horse riding and archery, but also requires physical fitness, running, marching, musket shooting, and grenade throwing. These are the most basic skills for an ordinary soldier and they still need to be learned.

"You know how to throw stones, right? You know how to line up, right? You know how to use muskets and short spears, right? Even illiterate soldiers can learn it, so how can educated scholars not learn it? These are much simpler than riding a horse and shooting a bow.

"In short, the new type of education does not aim at improving martial arts, but at strengthening the body and learning some of the most basic combat skills. I call it 'physical education', or physical education for short!
"Confucianism advocates the six arts of a gentleman, which are ritual, music, archery, charioteering, calligraphy and mathematics. These are too specific, but what I, Gongshu, advocate is the five virtues of a gentleman, which are morality, wisdom, physique, beauty and labor. A gentleman should abide by morality, be smart and wise, have a strong body, be able to distinguish between beauty and ugliness, and endure hardships and hard work. Only with these five good qualities can a gentleman be qualified."

Everyone was shocked when they heard this. After two thousand years since Confucius, someone finally proposed a new standard for a gentleman.
"My lord is wise!" everyone praised in unison.

Lu Jin waved his hand and said, "Okay, let's not talk about education first, let's talk about issuing new banknotes. If anyone has any questions, you can raise them."

After hearing Lu Jin's words, Tao An, the head of the Etiquette Department who had been silent, also stepped forward and asked his own questions.

"General, I still have a few questions that I don't understand.

"First, since the new banknotes are tied to copper coins and silver dollars, do we have enough silver dollar reserves? Are there any silver mines under our jurisdiction? If the people take the new banknotes to us to exchange for silver dollars, will we exchange them? If not, will the new banknotes lose their credibility?
“Second, how will the new banknotes be issued? By what means? And how will the prices of goods be determined?

“Third, can the new banknotes be exchanged for the old banknotes of the Yuan court? If so, how can we solve the problem of the Yuan court printing a large number of old banknotes to exchange for our new banknotes?
"Fourth, the new banknotes are called salt and iron coupons, and they are tied to the physical salt and iron. Does that mean that you can buy salt just by exchanging the new banknotes, or can you also buy salt with copper coins? Should there be purchase restrictions?

"If there are merchants from other places who want to sell salt, or if they need merchants to transport grain to the front, should they use salt to open the Sino-Japanese War? Should they still issue salt permits? Or can these salt and iron coupons be used directly as salt permits? As long as you get the salt and iron coupons, you can buy salt anywhere?"

Everyone couldn't help but look sideways when they heard this. Lu Jin couldn't help but look over, "Your questions are quite profound. It seems that you have really thought about them. Liu Qing, please introduce yourself to Mr. Zhu Jing."

"Yes!" Liu Zhang immediately responded with a bow.
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PS: Please give me a monthly ticket, and there will be another chapter in the evening

(End of this chapter)