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In August, shortly after the launch of the cash-for-work program in the Imperial Palace, Qian Zhuang announced that it would issue silver dollars.

Ordinary people may not know what a silver dollar is, but the high-level and wealthy businessmen in Hexi know very well.

As early as the issuance of the five-baht coin, the money bank also minted silver dollars and gold coins, but they were not circulated internally.

Before the official issuance of the silver dollar, the bank submitted a sample of the silver dollar to the Metropolitan Protector for review.

It's a review, but it's just a formality.

A silver dollar shining with silver was being held in Wei Shuo's hand and looked at it carefully.

He found that the silver dollar became more and more elaborate, and it was more generous and rounded than the Persian silver coin.

On the obverse of the silver dollar is a totem symbolizing the Chinese nation - a four-clawed golden dragon soaring through the clouds and mist, spitting dragon balls.

Originally, Wei Shuo wanted to get a five-clawed golden dragon, but Song Xuan and Cui Hao said that the five-clawed golden dragon was a symbol of the Son of Heaven, and the local princes could only use the four-clawed golden dragon.

On the back of the silver dollar are engraved two capital letters - One Yuan, and below it are small characters such as the issuing agency and the time of issuance.

The whole silver dollar weighs seven coins and two cents, and the so-called seven coins and two cents refer to the total weight of Kuping silver, which contains six coins and four cents of silver, and is cast in the way of silver and nine bronze and one centimeter.

Seeing that Wei Shuo had been staring at the silver dollar, Song Miao next to him asked with a smile: "How is it, most of the guards are still satisfied?" ”

"Not bad." Wei Shuo nodded, very satisfied with the fineness and style of the silver dollar.

"When exactly will it be released?"

"You can ...... at any time," Song Miao said.

"At present, with the money village casting workshop, more than 1,000 silver dollars can be made a day."

"Although there are not many of them, there are more than 30,000 pieces in a month."

"If only Hexi and Jiangdong are issued, it will be barely enough."

"Well, let's release it!"

"Recently, disaster relief and reconstruction have caused the government to spend a lot of money, and it is time to make a windfall to make up for the financial deficit."

Although Hexi's annual fiscal revenue has reached tens of millions of yuan, and at the same time, it has also made a fortune from Hebei and the Western Regions this year, it is still unable to meet the huge expenditure.

The war against the state, the suppression of the rebellion in the Western Regions, the pacification of displaced people, disaster relief and disaster relief, infrastructure construction, etc., each expenditure is not a small amount.

Putting down the silver dollar in his hand, Wei Shuo looked at Song Xuan again.

"By the way, how are you going to solve the problem of the circulation of silver dollars in Koto?"

"Qian Zhuang is ready to start from two places, on the one hand, relying on Huan Xuan and other forces close to Hexi, let the silver dollars circulate in private first."

"On the other hand, it is to promote the public issuance of silver dollars through commercial transactions."

"Actually, the lord doesn't have to worry about anything, don't you think that the copper coins were gradually acquiesced by Jiangdong?"

Thinking of the phenomenon of good money driving out bad money back then, Wei Shuo temporarily put his mind at ease.

Now that the issuance of silver dollars is ready to be issued, he has no choice but to retreat.

"Even so, be careful, and beware of the family making trouble."

"Don't worry..."The corners of Song Xuan's mouth turned up slightly, revealing a hint of mockery.

"At least the families that trade with Hexi are unlikely to stand on the opposite side of Hexi."

"Some other people who don't open their eyes can't make any waves."

Hearing Song Miao say this, Wei Shuo couldn't help laughing.

The issuance of silver dollars will not only allow Hexi's finances to rise to a higher level, but if the silver dollars can be circulated in Jiangdong, Hebei and other places, it will have real benefits and at least greatly expand Hexi's influence.

"Physic, what's the state of silver reserves?"

Although China is a country lacking precious metals, it is fortunate that there are two large silver mines in Hexi, which is the fundamental reason why Hexi adopted the silver standard.

In addition, Hexi occupies an important position in foreign trade and has always been the main inflow area of gold and silver from the outside world.

This alone can allow Hexi to accumulate precious metals continuously.

"Thanks to the monopoly of the foreign silk trade, there is a large silver surplus every year."

"In the past ten years, there have been more than 8 million taels, and about 8.8 million silver dollars can be minted."

"Coupled with the income from mining the Xiaotieshan silver mine over the years, there are now nearly 20 million taels of silver."

"It's not a lot of it, but it's enough to meet the immediate needs."

Wei Shuo nodded with a smile and said, "Twenty million taels...... For the time being, it is enough. ”

……

Since copper coins have been the mainstream currency in China for a long time, copper coins and silver nuggets have penetrated into all aspects of social life.

In order to ensure the smooth issuance of silver dollars, major newspapers in Hexi began to publicize and build momentum for the issuance of silver dollars.

At the same time, in order to encourage the use of silver dollars, the Metropolitan Government announced that all taxes would be used in the future.

In addition, it is also mandatory that all merchants, shops, restaurants, workshops and other establishments shall not refuse silver dollars.

In order to further promote the circulation of silver dollars, the Prefecture also announced that when the tax amount reaches a certain amount, it will receive benefits.

Those who pay more than 100 yuan can enjoy a rebate of 1 yuan.

Pay $1,000 to get $10 in counter-interest; If you pay $10,000 or more, you will receive a counter-profit of $100.

Although there is a loss of profit at first, since this benefit is mostly for self-employed people, craftsmen, and small workshop owners, the loss is actually not large.

The main purpose of this policy is to attract small and medium-sized investors to use silver dollars.

Because for many farmers and small craftsmen, they are accustomed to copper coins, and rarely use silver or silver dollars.

I have to say that Wei Shuo did capture the psychology of ordinary people who love to be greedy and cheap.

The implementation of this policy played a great role in the early stage of the issuance of silver dollars.

On the same day, many Yin Shi families went to the money village to exchange silver dollars, and most of the exchange amounts were between tens of yuan and two or three hundred yuan.

These people were mainly owners of small production workshops, and they became the first users of silver dollars because of the rebate policy.

With such a group of people, the status of the silver dollar in people's hearts has been greatly improved, and a good foundation has been laid for the subsequent circulation of silver dollars.

A few days later, the silver dollar began to circulate on a large scale in the market, and the policy of mandating the use of silver dollars in transactions did not cause much confusion either.

Basically, the Hexi family and the merchant family quickly accepted the silver dollar status, and only a few Jiangdong families refused to accept the silver dollar.

Over the past ten days, Qian Zhuang has sent a large number of personnel to inquire about the circulation of silver dollars.

Generally speaking, due to the sound management and publicity in place, the issuance of silver dollars went smoothly.

It wasn't until they received the relevant good news that Wei Shuo, Song Xuan, Cui Hao, Zhang Zhan and other Hexi high-level officials breathed a sigh of relief.

And China, which would not enter the silver standard until the Song Dynasty, also entered hundreds of years ahead of schedule because of the arrival of Wei Shuo.

Copper coins, which have always played an important role in history, will gradually lose their mainstream status and become a secondary currency in the future.

However, Wei Shuo and everyone knew very well that the people in Hexi could easily accept silver dollars, and that was because the Duhufu had accumulated a very good reputation over the years.

It is still unknown whether the silver dollar can circulate in Jiangdong, Guanzhong, Hebei, and the Central Plains.

While continuing to pay attention to the circulation of silver dollars, Wei Shuo also ordered the money bank to increase the amount of coinage to ensure that there were enough silver dollars to meet the market demand.

In addition, he also strictly ordered that the exchange of silver dollars must be strictly controlled, and must not be careless.

Regardless of the fact that silver has been in circulation in China for a long time, it has essentially been the common currency for bulk trade.

However, due to the chaotic monetary system of ancient China, there was never a unified standard, resulting in the quality of silver circulating in the market was also uneven.

As a result, the actual value of silver varies, so it cannot be exchanged for silver dollars based on their actual weight.

At the same time, it is also necessary to prevent some people from taking improper benefits from it in order to enrich their own pockets.

In addition, Wei Shuo also stipulated that except for the money bank accident, no one else is allowed to mint currency privately.

Finally, in order to facilitate large transactions, the bank has launched a ticket number service accordingly.

Wealthy merchants can exchange the silver stored in their homes for silver dollars in advance, and then the bank will issue the corresponding ticket number.

In this way, in large transactions, wealthy businessmen do not need to hire guards to protect their money, which not only facilitates transactions, but also ensures personal safety.

After all, it is very troublesome to withdraw the ticket number, and it needs to be handled on the spot, and it is difficult for outsiders to withdraw cash directly according to the amount.

From this point of view, the silver dollar is not very useful in bulk trade, and its only convenience is the convenience of settlement at the end of the bulk trade.

After all, compared to a regular and uniform silver dollar, it is really inconvenient to have silver nuggets of different fineness.

The issuance of the silver dollar went very smoothly in Hexi, and when the silver dollar was launched, it was immediately welcomed by everyone.

However, there were still some minor troubles in Jiangdong, and some families secretly made trouble and deliberately spread some 'rumors'.

It is said that the silver dollar is mixed with other metals, specifically to deceive the family of the silver, and calls on the family to refuse to use the silver dollar.

Soon Hexi gave countermeasures, saying that anyone who goes to Hexi to shop, the amount exceeds ten yuan, and silver dollars must be used.

With just one move, he immediately restrained those families who love to enjoy.

It must be known that Hexi specialties such as glass and soap have long become necessities for major families, and they can't leave at all.

So soon, silver dollars were also circulating in Koto, Kanto, and other places.

With the successful issuance of the silver dollar, the Metropolitan Government finally had money in its hands, and a large number of projects began to be carried out in an orderly manner.