The Ming Dynasty: Starting with the border troops, it was overthrown and the Qing Dynasty was destro

Chapter 326 Salary Increase

After leaving the Prince of Han's residence, Luo Qiyuan was filled with worry, as if a huge rock was pressing on his heart.

He had previously seen his colleagues in the Ironworks and Weaving Workshops being rewarded for their merits and gaining the favor of the King of Han, and he had been quite envious of them.

But now that the opportunity has come to him, he truly realizes that gaining the king's favor is not so easy.

He has been immersed in the papermaking industry for more than ten years and considers himself a master craftsman with superb skills.

But the anti-counterfeiting methods that the king described today are simply a pipe dream to him.

While it's somewhat conceivable to imagine "anti-counterfeiting lines" embedded in paper, it's incredibly difficult to generate a specific pattern from within the paper without revealing any trace of ink or engraving.

However, the king's command was as firm as a mountain, and it was a rare opportunity for a marginal craftsman like him.

Back at the paper mill, Luo Qiyuan immediately summoned his most experienced master craftsman and they locked themselves in to study the paperwork carefully.

He first relayed the King of Han's request verbatim.

Sure enough, when they heard that the paper would "grow" patterns on its own during the papermaking process, the master craftsmen present frowned and looked at each other in bewilderment.

The scene fell silent for a moment.

When Luo Qiyuan mentioned the unique technique of "layering Xuan paper" in mounting paintings, they gradually began to understand.

After a heated discussion, everyone unanimously decided to start by working on the most fundamental materials.

Xuan paper, which is commonly used for calligraphy and painting, is actually not suitable for making banknote paper.

This thing is too delicate and easily damaged; it cannot withstand frequent wear and tear.

In comparison, mulberry bark paper is more resilient, sturdy, and durable, making it more suitable for the requirements.

The general direction has been set, but how to implement it in detail remains a significant challenge.

A group of craftsmen gathered around the pulp vat and began various experiments.

An experienced craftsman suggested that while the pulp is not yet fully solidified, one can use the softest brush to gently draw patterns on it.

However, after many attempts, people discovered that this method was extremely demanding on the craftsman's skill and patience.

The wet pulp is as thin as a cicada's wing; if you apply too much pressure, the pen tip will tear the paper.
If the force is too light, it is difficult to create an effective thickness difference.

Seeing that this method wouldn't work, a craftsman suggested making thick paper first, and then using a knife to micro-carve patterns on the paper.

He spent several days meticulously carving a banknote and excitedly presented it to Luo Qiyuan to show off his achievement.

However, Luo Qiyuan only glanced at it twice before rejecting the idea outright.

He pointed to the marks on the paper and said to the craftsman:

“Take a good look at yourself. The edges of this carved pattern are stiff, and the artificial traces are too obvious.”

"Don't forget, what the king requires is a pattern that is as natural as heaven and earth, and that is perfectly integrated."

"Your current version is too deliberate."

Luo Qiyuan put down the banknotes, his expression serious:

"When profit is the primary motivation, there will inevitably be those who will risk their lives."

"Although ordinary people may not be able to see through your method, anyone with a little knowledge can see through it at a glance. There is no secret to it."

The craftsman grew anxious and argued:

"This...this might be because my skills aren't good enough!"

"If we could invite a master engraver, they definitely wouldn't be able to spot the flaw!"

Upon hearing this, Luo Qiyuan was so angry he almost laughed out loud, and scolded:

"Foolish! You actually want to hire a master engraver?"

"Are you complaining that we didn't spend enough time or money?"

"What we're making is paper money that will circulate throughout the world, not handicrafts for people to admire!"

"Although His Majesty said that paper money will be used internally first, in the long run, it will definitely be rolled out nationwide!"

"With your meticulous and painstaking work, how can you possibly meet the needs of all the people in Sichuan?"

"Don't mention this kind of inefficient method that relies entirely on manual labor again!"

The craftsman was scolded until his face turned red, but he understood that what Luo Qiyuan said was true. It was just that the frustration from repeated failures made it difficult for him to accept it for a while.

Seeing this, Luo Qiyuan sighed deeply:
"Sigh... I heard that the ironworks next door has already produced new coins, but we can't even take the first step."

"How embarrassing..."

After several failed attempts, the group of people looked at the pool full of paper pulp with furrowed brows.

Luo Qiyuan worked almost non-stop, staying by the pool day and night to carefully observe the suspension and settling of the fibers in the water.

"During papermaking, some raised or sunken areas often appear..."

"This is due to the uneven distribution of the pulp... This difference in thickness is the key to forming the pattern."

Luo Qiyuan repeatedly observed the pulp on the bamboo curtain, constantly recalling Jiang Han's original words in his mind.

Suddenly, a thought flashed through his mind:
"We're all wrong! We've all misunderstood!"

"You don't necessarily have to work on the paper itself; you can also work on the bamboo screen used for making paper!"

"Instead of carving it on paper, attach it to the curtain!"

He stood up abruptly, his voice trembling with excitement.

Luo Qiyuan immediately ordered his men to invite the most skilled female worker in the workshop and made his demands:

On the fine bamboo screen used for papermaking, pre-designed patterns and text outlines are embroidered in advance with extremely fine silk threads.

The protrusions and depressions created by the silk threads must be precise to the millimeter, with a natural transition that leaves no abrupt traces.

Papermaking generally involves several processes, including composting, boiling, pounding, and vat making, with "papermaking" being the core step.

When making paper, the craftsman holds a sieve-like screen made of fine bamboo strips, with movable rulers at both ends.

The bamboo screen is steadily immersed in the pulp vat, and then the screen is gently shaken to allow the pulp fibers to float evenly on it, while filtering out most of the water.

Once a layer of pulp is evenly applied, the craftsman lifts the paper sheet out of the water, which is the prototype of paper.

The craftsman then removes this wet paper, which is then pressed to dehydrate and dried by baking on a wall to form real paper.

Luo Qiyuan's idea was ingenious. As long as the pattern was embroidered on the papermaking bed in advance, the pulp attached to it could be changed without manual intervention during papermaking.

The raised threads will block some of the pulp fibers, making the pulp in that area thinner than in other areas;

In the recessed areas, the slurry flows more slowly, causing it to accumulate and naturally become thicker than in other areas.

This is what the king mentioned before: the difference in the thickness of the pulp creates a natural watermark.

The female workers were extremely patient, skillfully sewing silver threads, about one centimeter long, between the silk threads of the curtain bed according to the pre-drawn pattern.

The silver threads undulate and interspersed, with slight protrusions and depressions, forming a pattern that is difficult to perceive with the touch, yet truly exists.

After the specially made bamboo curtain was completed, the crucial test began.

Luo Qiyuan hurriedly carried the bamboo curtain to the pulp vat and began to operate it himself.

As the curtain bed was slowly lifted from the ladle, the water gurgled and splashed, and his heart pounded wildly.

In the areas with the attached pattern, the uniform coverage of the pulp was successfully prevented during the papermaking process, resulting in a thinner pulp layer in those areas.

He suppressed his excitement and carefully peeled off the damp paper, placing it on the heated wall.

Once the paper was completely dry, he took it down, staggered to an open space, and held it high in the sunlight.

Become!

Sunlight penetrated the back of the paper, clearly revealing a slightly hazy yet incredibly realistic watermark of the Chinese character "汉" (Han).

It bears no trace of ink or later carving; it simply "grows" naturally within the paper, its surface smooth to the touch. Only under sunlight can it be revealed.

"Incredible skill... truly incredible skill!"

Luo Qiyuan's eyes welled up with tears, and he held the paper as if it were a priceless treasure.

His method is closer to the king's requirements than the previous idea, and once the bamboo screens are mass-produced, banknotes can be produced stably!

Once the watermark hurdle is overcome, the anti-counterfeiting measures become much simpler.

Following his previous ideas, Luo Qiyuan began to work on the bamboo screen for making paper.

He made two small holes in the curtain rods at both ends and had the female worker embroider a very shallow indentation on the curtain bed with silver thread.

The two ends of the indentation were aligned with the pre-carved small holes.

He then found two dyes, cinnabar and indigo, and dyed the upper and lower parts of the fine cotton thread respectively, creating a two-color anti-counterfeiting thread.

Before he started making paper, he threaded the anti-counterfeiting thread through the small holes at both ends and fixed it to the indentation on the curtain bed.

The moist pulp has its own stickiness, which can further wrap and fix the cotton thread.

Once the subsequent pressing and drying processes are completed, this cotton thread, like the roots of a plant, becomes firmly integrated with the paper fibers, completely fusing together. The final step is to combine all three into one, creating the final banknote paper.

On a specially made smooth stone slab, Luo Qiyuan first laid down mulberry bark paper as the base layer, and then evenly applied paper mulberry resin.

Then, he covered it with the middle layer, which had a watermark and anti-counterfeiting lines, and carefully smoothed out the wrinkles.

Finally, apply glue to the middle layer as well, and then cover it with the top layer of tissue paper.

After the three layers are applied, press them down with a 100-pound bluestone slab and place them in a cool, ventilated place to air dry naturally.

When the first batch of banknotes came out of the press, Luo Qiyuan's heart was in his throat.

He took out a sheet with trembling hands and examined it carefully.

Under the sunlight, a clear "Han" character watermark stands perfectly upright!
In the center of the ticket, the two-color security thread is also neatly embedded, appearing and disappearing.

"It's done! It's really done!"

The workshop fell silent for a moment, then erupted in cheers.

Luo Qiyuan burst into tears. The anxiety and exhaustion of the past few days turned into ecstasy and a sense of accomplishment at this moment.

When he arrived at the Prince of Han's residence with the paper money, Jiang Han was overjoyed.

"Not bad!"

"Perfectly natural, yet containing hidden secrets!"

He immediately ordered that Luo Qiyuan be rewarded with sixty taels of silver, and the other helpers with thirty taels each.

Not only were there rewards, but what excited Luo Qiyuan even more was that he would become the head of the "paper money workshop," responsible for the production of official paper money in the future.

To facilitate management and maintain secrecy, Jiang Han set up the paper money workshop next to the mint, and similarly deployed heavy troops to guard it.

Of course, making the banknote paper was only the first step. The remaining tasks, such as printing the patterns, carving the characters, and stamping the official seal, had to be completed by the Quanzhou Bureau.

Although these tasks were relatively simple, Xue Zhiheng still dared not slack off.

He collaborated with woodblock engravers to create a set of intricate and detailed woodblocks featuring dragon and water ripple patterns, using three colors: cinnabar, indigo, and pine soot ink.

At the top of the ticket, the value is clearly indicated by words such as "one shi of grain" and "one bolt of cloth".

The corners of the tickets were specially marked with the words "For Ministry of Revenue Only" and "For Ministry of Justice Only" to facilitate internal management and tracking.

When the complete set of grain coupons and cloth coupons were placed on Jiang Han's desk, he was overjoyed.

This small ticket was not only a voucher for exchanging grain and cloth, but also a symbol of his future ambitions.

Putting down the receipts, Jiang Han looked at Xue Zhiheng:

"By the way, have you finalized the internal structure and various rules and regulations of your Quantong Company?"

When will these new coins and notes be officially issued?

Upon hearing this, Xue Zhiheng quickly took out a memorial and presented it to Jiang Han:
"Your Majesty, the basic charter has been drafted. Please review it."

"Your Majesty has already selected a group of personnel from various places and given them preliminary training."

"In my humble opinion, we can try it out and promote it in Chengdu to accumulate experience."

Jiang Han took the memorial and began to read it while Xue Zhiheng explained it to him.

In Xue Zhiheng's design, the primary business of the Quantongsi after its establishment was to collect all kinds of official and private money in the market and exchange them for new money according to a certain ratio.

Its organizational structure is roughly as follows:
The central government established the Quanzhou General Affairs Office in Chengdu, with Xue Zhiheng serving as its director, overseeing all affairs within the office and reporting directly to Jiang Han.

Two deputy directors were appointed, one of whom was in charge of the minting, exchange, and circulation of coins.
Another person is in charge of the printing, distribution, and verification management of various types of invoices.

The two were mainly responsible for assisting with the promotion work.

Each province had a Quanzhou branch office to manage the province's monetary affairs; each prefecture had a Quanzhou office to manage the prefecture's business.

Each county has a Quantong Station, which serves as the grassroots implementation unit.

In this way, a vertical management system is formed, striving to avoid local government interception and corruption, and ensuring the smooth implementation of government orders.

In addition, Quanzhou General Services has three core functional departments:

The first is the Recycling and Verification Section, which has one section chief, two deputy section chiefs, and several clerks.

Its main responsibilities include receiving, counting, and appraising old and inferior coins handed over by the public, and registering them.

The second is the Department of Exchange and Circulation, which also has a head and deputy head, and several clerks.

It is primarily responsible for currency exchange services for the general public, as well as currency transfer between different regions.

The third is the Books and Records Department, whose core function is to record and verify all the account books in the entire Quanzhou General Affairs Bureau system.

This includes various data such as daily recycling, exchange, adjustment, and inventory, ensuring that the accounts match the actual situation and that everything is verifiable.

Finally, he also established a special Supervision and Inspection Division, independent of the entire Quanzhou Transportation Division system.

The Inspection Department is not under the jurisdiction of the chief official and is responsible for supervising the operations of all departments, including checking accounts, on-site supervision, and so on.

In summary, Izumi Tsushima is a new department with a large structure and important functions, requiring a large number of staff.

In a short period of time, Xue Zhiheng was unable to expand across the entire territory and could only expand slowly step by step.

The personnel currently being trained are just enough to conduct an initial trial in Chengdu.

Jiang Han listened carefully to Xue Zhiheng's report and reviewed the details in the memorial before agreeing to the arrangement.

He put down the memorial and said to Xue Zhiheng:

"That's fine. The structure is clear and the considerations are quite thorough."

"Hurry up and prepare. I will announce this news to the civil and military officials in Chengdu at the grand court assembly at the end of June."

Upon hearing this, Xue Zhiheng's expression turned solemn. Knowing the importance of this matter, he quickly bowed and took his leave to return and expedite preparations.

In just over ten days, the grand court assembly at the end of June was held as scheduled.

After Jiang Han established the system, he did not hold court meetings frequently, as he believed that this was inefficient and often became a mere formality.

He didn't actually have that many core civil and military officials under his command, and the number of officials qualified to attend court assemblies was also limited.

Instead of wasting time on this, it would be better to hold a small meeting and have the main civil and military officials participate in the discussion.

Therefore, Jiang Han changed the court assembly to once every three months, four times a year.

The purpose of this morning meeting at the end of June was mainly to summarize the achievements of the previous quarter.

At the stroke of dawn, bells and drums resounded throughout the Han Prince's Palace.

Military officers led by Hei Zi and Cao Er, and civil officials led by Zhao Sheng and Wang Chengbi, stood in two rows inside the Cunxin Hall under the guidance of the eunuchs.

Although the number of people was small, the civil and military officials in the hall were all imposing and exuded a vibrant atmosphere of the beginning of a new dynasty.

After Jiang Han sat on the throne and received the homage of the ministers, he proceeded according to the agenda, with the heads of each department stepping forward in turn to briefly report on the important work achievements of the quarter.

The Ministry of Agriculture reported on the repair of reservoirs in various regions, the Ministry of Revenue reported on the storage of granaries and the progress of resettlement, and the Ministry of Education summarized the provincial examinations, the palace examinations, and planned the next provincial examinations...

Jiang Han listened patiently, affirmed the progress of various tasks, and commended some outstanding officials.

When all the reports were finished, and the officials thought the court meeting was coming to an end, Jiang Han coughed lightly, attracting everyone's attention.

He glanced at the civil and military officials in the hall, a slight smile on his face, and spoke loudly:

"Gentlemen, before the court session concludes, I have some good news to announce."

He paused, looking at the gazes that had gathered in the hall, and explained:
"In the past two years, I have relied on everyone's concerted efforts."

"Sichuan has made remarkable progress in streamlining government affairs, strengthening military preparedness, and restoring people's livelihoods, and the situation is thriving."

"Thank you for your hard work!"

"Therefore, I have decided to ensure that all of you will reap the rewards of your labor and remain focused on your tasks."

"Starting next month, the salaries of all civil and military officials will be increased!"

Upon hearing this, everyone in the hall was stunned for a moment, and then fell completely silent.

What? What did His Majesty just say?
A raise in salary?
After everyone realized they hadn't misheard, the entire hall erupted in a buzz, as if a pot had been boiled over, and discussions began.

Although they dared not speak loudly due to court etiquette, everyone's face was filled with astonishment and joy.

The reaction was relatively muted on the side of the military officers.

After all, under Jiang Han's command, the army had a clear system of rewards and punishments. Especially now that the military merit system has been reformed, merit is no longer based on the number of heads taken. As long as a battle is won, there will be a reward.

On ordinary days, the food and pay were plentiful and generous, and there was never a shortage of meals.

For them, a raise in salary is just icing on the cake; they are happy but not to the point of losing their composure.

However, the reaction from the civil servants was quite different.

Many officials, especially those who had surrendered from the Ming court, could not believe it when Jiang Han said he would raise their salaries.

These three words were completely foreign to them!
(End of this chapter)