The banknotes have not yet been issued, and they have already reached the unexpected joy of splitting up the big family, which makes Zhu Youxiao very satisfied.

In the first month of the thirteenth year of the Apocalypse, the new banknotes were officially issued. The image of the new banknote is completely different from that of the papyrus. Stiff, thick sheet of paper with legible handwriting. On the front is the Daming Royal Bank, and on the bottom is the denomination. On the reverse side is written the article on the punishment of counterfeiting in the "Measures for the Administration of Paper Money", and the time of issuance is indicated below.

Although it has been stated in the newspaper that paper money can be used for shopping in agricultural cooperatives and can also pay taxes, the psychological shadow left by treasure money on the Ming people cannot be eliminated in a short time, so there are almost no people who come to the bank to exchange paper money. And if you use banknotes to shop in a shop, the shopkeeper will always ask carefully: "Can the guest officer settle with copper coins?" ”

Seeing this situation, Li Zhizao was very anxious, although Zhu Youxiao told him that the implementation of banknotes requires a gradual process, but he is in charge of the bank, and a large number of banknotes are printed but cannot be used, which makes people very anxious.

He went to Bi Ziyan to discuss countermeasures, and Bi Ziyan didn't have any good way, so the two went to Xu Guangqi together. Xu Guangqi said with a smile: "What's in a hurry, a good currency will always be acceptable, and there is nothing to worry about if you don't accept it for a while." ”

Li Zhizao said: "So many banknotes are piled up in the bank, and they can't be piled up, do you think I'm worried?" ”

Xu Guangqi said: "Then what can I do?" You can't send people to hand out banknotes one by one. ”

Li Zhizao's eyes lit up and said: "This time, when the officials issue money, can they all use paper money instead of silver coins." ”

Bi Ziyan said: "This month's Yulu will be distributed with paper money for less than one yuan, and silver coins for more than one yuan. ”

Li Zhizao said: "Anyway, there is a yuan banknote, and the paper money is lighter and easier to take than the silver coin, isn't it better to replace the silver coin with all the paper money?" ”

Bi Ziyan hesitated: "I'm afraid this will make the officials dissatisfied." ”

Li Zhizao shouted: "What's the dissatisfaction, as an official, I don't support the paper money of the imperial court, is it still reasonable?" ”

Bi Ziyan looked at Xu Guangqi, Xu Guangqi pondered for a while and said: "This matter is big, I'm afraid that we have to think about it in the long run." ”

Li Zhizao said: "I went to ask the emperor, but I don't believe that the emperor will not support us." ”

Xu Guangqi said: "This little thing is going to trouble the emperor again, it seems that we are too incompetent." Convene a cabinet meeting to discuss the issue of issuing official money with paper money, and see what everyone has to say. ”

He was the head of the cabinet and had the power to convene a cabinet meeting, and only needed to report to the emperor after the fact that the secretary of general administration was required to report to the emperor. The Cabinet Clerk sent a notice to the Cabinet and the Cabinet Secretaries, and at two o'clock in the afternoon, when everyone gathered, the meeting began.

Xu Guangqi first said: "I have gathered everyone here today, mainly about the issue of banknote issuance. Of course, everyone knows the significance of the issuance of paper money, but now everyone seems to be not very active in the use of paper money, five days, the Royal Bank has only exchanged a total of more than 300 yuan of paper money, this situation is extremely unfavorable to the implementation of paper money, so let everyone discuss it to see if there is any good way. ”

Sun Chuanting said: "Why don't you just let the emperor think of a way." ”

Sun Chengzong stared at this unreliable family fiercely and said: "Everything has to trouble the emperor, so what do you want us people to do." ”

Sun Chuanting immediately didn't dare to speak out, in his mind, it was the easiest to ask the emperor directly, and the emperor would naturally give a method that proved effective afterwards, so many people thought together, and the final result might not be as good as the emperor's casual words, it was better for the emperor to make an idea, and everyone would implement it.

Yang Lian said rarely: "Governor Li, can you really exchange paper money for silver and copper coins at any time?" Banks don't charge fees? ”

Li Zhizao said: "Of course, you can redeem it at any time, at least for now, there will be no fee, and whether it will be charged in the future depends on the specific situation." ”

Yang Lian asked, "Why might you accept it in the future?" ”

"I'm afraid some people are bored and keep exchanging paper money for silver coins, so they may charge a little bit to prevent this from happening," Lee explained. ”

Yang Lian frowned and said: "Even if there are such people, it should be very rare, so it is best to be free to exchange them." ”

Xu Guangqi also said: "Yes, it's better to never charge." ”

Li Zhizao said: "Okay, then there will never be a fee to exchange it, anyway, the increased workload is not very much, I think there should not be many people like this." ”

Sun Chuanting interjected: "Such a person should be beaten with a stick." ”

Sun Chengzong reprimanded: "What reason do you use to beat others out of place. Since you allow someone else to redeem it, you can only redeem it for him. ”

Zuo Guangdou said: "In order to prevent such a person, it can be stipulated that two-way exchange cannot be carried out within a day, this is just an internal regulation of the bank, and there should be no problem." ”

Li Zhizao arched his hand and said: "This method is very good. ”

Xu Guangqi coughed and said: "This matter will be handled like this, and now the focus is on how to make everyone accept paper money." I have a discussion, that is, the officials' salaries are paid in paper money, do you think there is any problem? ”

Sun Chengzong said: "There is no problem with this, officials will never object, besides, they don't like paper money, they can also go to the bank to exchange it." The point is to get merchants to accept paper money, and now the agricultural cooperatives and the royal trading houses all accept paper money, but they account for too little after all, and the small people's doubts about the treasure money have not been eliminated, which is a big problem. ”

Mao Yuanyi hesitated for a moment and said, "If merchants are forced to accept banknotes, will this be too much?" ”

Everyone was silent, this is of course the simplest and most effective way, and this is actually the first method that comes to everyone's mind. Simply forcing merchants to accept paper money would obviously cause resentment, and in that would put a lot of pressure on those who decided to implement the scheme.

Sun Chengzong thought for a while and said: "Then let's do it, send out patrols and arrests, as long as the merchant refuses to accept the banknotes, persuade first, and if the persuasion fails, he will seal his shop." As for the reason, it's very simple, doesn't the "Measures for the Administration of Paper Money" say that paper money is the legal tender of the Ming Dynasty? If you refuse to accept legal tender, it is a violation of the "Measures for the Administration of Paper Money", and it is still light to close your store, and it is good if you are not arrested. ”

Zhu Yanxi said: "Wouldn't this be too harsh?" Can we use other euphemistic ways to solve this problem peacefully? ”

Sun Chengzong said with a smile: "In fact, everyone knows that paper money is better than silver coins and copper coins, which is not only good for the imperial court, but also good for merchants and the people. We use coercive methods to implement, which may make the people resentful, but after everyone gets used to it, they will find that paper money will actually be more convenient. Sometimes, people don't accept things, not because they're bad, but because they don't recognize their benefits, and it's our job to help them understand them. There is no other way to solve it more easily, quickly, and peacefully is not possible. ”

Xu Guangqi said: "Then so be it, first, the official's Yulu is paid with paper money, and the household department says hello when withdrawing the Yulu, and is not allowed to go to the bank to exchange silver coins within ten days." The second is to dispatch patrols to picket merchants who refuse to accept banknotes, and explain in the newspaper that in accordance with the provisions of the "Measures for the Administration of Paper Money", paper money is the legal tender of the Ming Dynasty, and it is illegal to refuse to accept it. ”