After Li Yan returned home, he found that Wu Niang was waiting for him. Since the last time he brought Wu Niang into the county seat, he arranged Wu Niang in a small courtyard next to his house. The owner of that courtyard couldn't survive in the city, so he joined Li Yan's farm, moved to Zhao Hugang outside the city, and became a farmer again.

"Coming, wait for me to have something?" After Li Yan saw Wu Niang, he entered the door and asked.

Wu Niang saluted Li Yan and said Wanfu, and then said, "I came to find Gongzi to ask if there is a suitable job for me to do?" ”

Li Yan thought for a moment and asked, "The garment workshop, flag factory, and shoe factory in the city are all my industry, you can go there." Do whatever you want. ”

Wu Niang said embarrassedly: "I've asked everything, but those places only give food." ”

"Yes, now people just need food." Li Yan nodded and said, "If you give money, how much do you have to give so that they don't go hungry?" In that case, no workshop would be able to afford to hire them. ”

"I didn't expect your food here to be so expensive." Wu Niang frowned and said: "Kaifeng Doumi is nine hundred yuan, which is already the most expensive in previous years, but I didn't expect you to get 1,500 yuan here." But no matter what, life is not only about having a full stomach, but also about other things, so how can you only give food? ”

Li Yan explained: "You can go and exchange grain, now grain is hard currency, much harder than silver." What can't be exchanged for food? ”

As he spoke, a thought suddenly came to mind. Since money has lost its value measure, why not get something new to replace it? And this thing must be universally accepted by the people, and food has such characteristics.

"What do you think I'm going to do?" Wu Niang asked. Before, whether she was a female celebrity or something else, she did it alone, and she hadn't worked with many people in a big workshop, so she was a little apprehensive.

But Li Yan was still thinking about his new ideas, sat down by himself, and said to himself, "Banknotes?" "Banknotes? "Anti-counterfeiting and circulation" and the like, and simply ignored the problem of Wu Niang.

"Childe?" Wu Niang shouted.

Li Yan looked at Wu Niang and thought for a while, it seemed that Wu Niang was asking him what she was suitable for. So he asked, "What will you do?" Will it settle accounts? ”

"Yes, I'll use an abacus." Wu Niang said proudly.

"You can write, right?" Li Yan nodded with satisfaction and continued to ask.

Wu Niang was a little embarrassed at this time, and said: "I don't know many words, I didn't let me go to school when I was a child, and my mother handed it over to me." ”

Li Yan said: "It's okay, you can't learn." Literacy classes were set up in the barracks, which were held every evening, but now they were only available in Zhaohugang. If you want, go there and learn. I ask you to be the bookkeeper, I still have something to do, you go back first. As for wages, grain and rice, we'll talk about it later. ”

"Accounts? Do you need an accounting office? Wu Niang asked suspiciously.

Li Yan stood up and walked out, saying as he walked: "I still have something to do, let's talk about it later." After saying that, he hurried out.

Wu Niang watched Li Yan leave suspiciously, but there was nothing she could do. So she had to go back to her small courtyard first and come back to Li Yan tomorrow.

After Li Yan left the house, he immediately went to the barracks to find Li Zhong, and asked people to go outside the city to inform Li Mu to come over. He wanted to discuss with his brothers the feasibility of issuing banknotes. If you can exchange all the copper coins with paper money, won't you be able to raise some copper for making cannons? Kill two birds with one stone.

After Li Yan found Li Zhong, he didn't directly say what he thought, but first told Li Zhong about the defense of the city and the situation of the soldiers, should he start rotating the soldiers? If the soldiers were prevented from staying in the city for a long time, they lost the courage to fight in the field.

But now the situation is okay, they have only been in the county for less than half a year, and the daily training is also completed with quality and quantity, and there has not been a situation of demoralization.

When Li Mu also came, Li Yan said his thoughts.

"Isn't this a treasure bank?" Li Mu frowned and said, "Who wants the butt paper?" That is, it is used by officials when they are used to loot things, and at other times, no one wants to see them. ”

Li Zhong also said: "Paper money is not a good idea. Now the value of banknotes is less than 1/10,000 of the denomination, and no one believes it for a long time. If we use it, it will be self-defeating. ”

"It's not a treasure copy," Li Yan explained: "It's an exchange coupon, yes, it's just that you can exchange this paper coupon for food on the denomination." Let's use grain to set prices, and now grain is the hardest thing, and the people should accept it. ”

"In that case, there is some truth." Li Mu nodded and said.

Li Zhong nodded at first, and then suddenly said, "If people exchange all these paper coupons for grain and store them, won't these paper coupons not be in circulation?" At that time, we will have no food, and we will still have a pile of paper, so how can we maintain it? ”

Li Yan thought about it for a while, and felt that what Li Zhong said was right, and he didn't know how to solve this problem.

Li Mu also said suddenly: "Now it is a catastrophe, and there is not much food. But if after this period of time, there is a bumper harvest of grain, won't the price of your ticket also fall? As long as the price drops, it will be another treasure banknote, and sooner or later no one will use it. ”

Li Yan nodded helplessly, Li Mu and Li Zhong were right, simply using grain as an equivalent is not stable. And his current control area is also limited, if someone fakes, his food will become someone else's meal. So he said helplessly: "I'm in a hurry, let's talk about this later." ”

Li Mu said: "I'm also looking for you to have something, should we get some war horses?" We are all infantry, and even if we defeat the enemy, we will not be able to pursue them. As for our pro-soldiers, there are only thirty or forty of them, which is too few. And it's also scattered, which is not conducive to future battles. ”

Li Zhong also nodded and said, "Yes, it's time to form a cavalry unit." Even in the former Song Dynasty, there were few horses, and there were some cavalry. ”

Li Yan nodded and said, "Then first transfer the horses from our own soldiers, start training the soldiers first, and then find a way to get some war horses." Let's guarantee the infantry first, and ensure undefeated first. ”

"War Horse, I sent Bai Shixiong to Shanxi to investigate, he has stayed in Shanxi, and he is familiar with it over there." Li Mu said: "By the way, I will also go back to see how the brothers' families are doing, and see if they can bring their families over." ”

Li Yan nodded and said, "Yes, but be careful, don't let the government catch you." The families of those people are probably also watched by the local government. Let them not worry, sooner or later we will reunite them with their families safely. ”

Li Mu nodded and said, "Fourth brother, don't worry, since they have rebelled, they are all prepared in their hearts." ”