Liangyi Palace, study.

Li You asked to see Li Shimin, and he said: "Father, the son wants to take a period of leave. ”

Li Shimin asked: "Are you saying that if you go to research new coins, can't you just leave these specific things to others to do?" ”

Li You said: "Father, for the whole society, the role of money is too crucial, and if this matter is not done well, the whole society will be in chaos." Let's let Erchen concentrate on doing this well. ”

Li Shimin knew this truth, and he said: "In this way, from tomorrow onwards, you still have to come to the morning court, and you don't have to go to the Shangshufang to work." ”

"Yes, father, the son and the emperor are retiring." Li You said goodbye and left.

It is impossible to forcibly stop the minting of coins by the private sector. In history, after Li Zhi became the emperor, he adopted the method of minting new money to replace Kaiyuan Tongbao, but was resisted by the people and was forced to abolish it. Wu Zetian relied on the harsh punishment law to prevent the private minting of coins, but it turned out to be useless, and finally had to compromise and allow those coins minted by the people who were of acceptable quality to circulate. The emperors of the Tang Dynasty have tried in these aspects, but they have not been able to solve the fundamental problems.

Lee Woo had to find a new solution – he wanted to issue banknotes.

Li You was not sure whether paper money would be popular in the Tang Dynasty, but he carefully studied the history of the development of paper money.

"Jiaozi" is the earliest banknote issued in China and even the world, the earliest banknote in printing, it was popular in Chengdu, Sichuan in the early years of the Northern Song Dynasty, it is the world's earliest popular banknote. During the Northern Song Dynasty, Chengdu was a prosperous area of commerce and commodity trading, and its original currency of exchange was iron money. This iron money, although heavy, is worth very little. It is said that at that time, people had to carry about seventy or eighty pounds of iron money to buy a piece of cloth, which was even more troublesome in case of big business, which was extremely inconvenient for merchants.

The inconvenience of the use of iron money prompted some merchants to invent a kind of paper (paper) roll in the transaction, they hid marks on the scroll, concealed the password, and replaced the iron money, thus greatly facilitating the merchants to trade goods. At that time, this type of scroll was called "Jiaozi", and its nature was very similar to that of today's deposit vouchers. It is said that the famous Northern Song Dynasty "Jiaozi" banknote history, printmaking history, and currency history occupy an important position.

The economic development of the Northern Song Dynasty was certainly higher than that of the Tang Dynasty, but the international status of the Tang Dynasty was much higher than that of the Song Dynasty. The issuance of a country's currency is not only acceptable to its own people, but also in line with international standards. The Tang Dynasty was the world's center of commerce and trade, and he had much greater influence than the Song Dynasty.

What's more, with the help of Li You, the Tang Dynasty developed rapidly, and the total economic volume was larger than that of the Northern Song Dynasty, and the degree of scientific and technological progress was also higher.

To sum up, the environment for the Tang Dynasty to issue paper money was superior to that of the Song Dynasty, and if the Song Dynasty was able to issue paper money, then the Tang Dynasty must also be able to circulate. This is the conclusion that Li You came to theoretically.

In addition, Li You also conducted a lot of research. He first asked some people around him about their views on paper money, and then conducted a survey of merchants through Chang'an Trading Company, and he also personally went to the West Market to communicate with foreign businessmen.

Wu also assisted Li You in his research through the Magpie Trading Company, and came to the conclusion that, in general, most people were in favor, and even if some people questioned it, the opinions in favor were greater than the opinions against.

The issuance of lottery tickets, the use of certificates of deposit and bills of exchange after the establishment of money banks is an attempt to issue paper money, and so far, it has been accepted by the majority of the people.

The issuance of banknotes has many advantages, the most important of which is to solve the problem of anti-counterfeiting of coins, which is not only easy to carry, but also saves a lot of copper and other metals.

Now, the most important thing is the quality of the banknote itself.

A long time ago, Li Youzai asked Yu Chi Baoqi and others to conduct research on paper, especially the research of special paper, including banknote printing paper, and also arranged for Zhao Fu to conduct research on related printing technology.

In the following days, Li You focused on the study of paper money.

A month later, the Liangyi Palace, the study.

Li You, Gao Jingming, and Du Xinyuan reported to Li Shimin and the main ministers of the imperial court on the preparations for the issuance of banknotes. The main ministers had already been informed in advance of the imperial court's preparations for the printing of banknotes.

Li You said: "Father, the research on banknotes is basically completed now, and I have brought some samples today, please review them with your adults." ”

Gao Jingming opened the briefcase he was carrying, took out a large stack of colorful banknotes, and handed them to Li Shimin and the ministers.

Li Shimin picked up a banknote and felt that the paper in his hand was different from ordinary paper, with a smooth surface and a certain hardness. Li Shimin's portrait is printed on it, as well as the four big characters of Kaiyuan Tongbao.

The banknotes are printed with Arabic numerals, capitalized Chinese characters, the denomination of this set of banknotes, the largest is 1000 Wen, followed by 100 Wen, 50 Wen, 20 Wen, 10 Wen, 2 Wen, 1 Wen, 5 Jiao, 2 Jiao, 1 Jiao, 5 Cents, 2 Cents, 1 Cent. The banknotes are beautifully printed and have various security markings on them.

After everyone watched it for a while, they all expressed their satisfaction.

Li Shimin asked: "Ladies and gentlemen, what do you think about the issuance of banknotes and this set of banknotes?" If not, let's look at the issue of distribution. ”

Everyone agreed, but Wei Zheng did not say anything, and Li Shimin asked, "Wei Zheng, what do you think?" ”

Wei Zheng said: "Your Majesty, the minister has no opinion on the issuance of banknotes. However, the minister is still a little worried about the anti-counterfeiting technology of this set of banknotes. Is it not to issue it for the time being, take some banknotes to the market, and find more people to inspect them, in case someone counterfeits them.

Chen felt that the cost of issuing banknotes was lower than that of the original copper yuan. In case someone masters the coinage technology, it is more harmful than the private minting of copper coins. ”

Li You smiled confidently and said, "Lord Wei, your worries are unnecessary. If you want to counterfeit banknotes, not to mention other printing technologies, it is basically impossible for others to create this banknote printing paper alone. ”

The technology of printing banknote paper is made using modern technology, and without Li You's guidance, no one in the era of the Tang Dynasty can make banknote printing paper in the world.

"Yes, Lord Wei, your worries are unnecessary." Gao Jingming echoed Li You's opinion.

Everyone trusts Li You very much, so they all agree with Li You's opinion.

Li Shimin said: "Since everyone agrees, let's start studying the issue of banknotes. ”

"Wait a minute." Wei Zheng questioned again.