The issue of printing a head picture on the banknote caused another controversy.

Wang Chenhao hoped to print his portrait on banknotes and coins, but he felt that he was only a minister of navy and army now, and he did not have that kind of influence, and if his portrait was printed, he was worried that it would cause dissatisfaction in the imperial court and leave an excuse for the imperial court to attack him.

However, under the persuasion of Wang Shizhen, Ruan Zhongshu and others, plus the new currency was only issued in Zhili, and it could not bear the face of the imperial court. Moreover, at present, the Beiyang Mint Bureau has banknotes printed with Li Hongzhang's portrait, and among the currencies of various provinces, the credit is the best. And the imperial court did not care about the Beiyang treasure coupon printed with Li Hongzhang's head, so Wang Shizhen and others thought that there should be no problem with replacing Wang Chenhao's head.

In fact, the Beiyang Treasure Coupon with Li Hongzhang's portrait is only issued to replace the circulation of copper coins, and its influence is limited, while the dragon currency that Wang Chenhao wants to issue is a paper money based on the gold standard, which can be directly exchanged for gold, and can be directly exchanged with the pounds, US dollars, francs, etc. of the great powers, and its influence is far more than that of the Beiyang Treasure Bonds.

The Beiyang treasure coupon represents the copper coin, and the "money" written on the banknote is the copper square hole round coin. The term money making began to appear in the Ming Dynasty. The Ming Dynasty did not mint much money by itself, and allowed the old money of the Tang and Song dynasties to circulate at the same time as the money of the current dynasty, so the money of the current dynasty was called making money. The Qing Dynasty continued the title. The special indication "foot" on the banknote is related to the habit of using coins in circulation. In ancient China, although every 1,000 copper coins were called consistent, or a string, when they were actually used, people often did not count them one by one when the value was more than one or two. Therefore, since ancient times, there has been a habit of using insufficient coins, which is called "provincial mo". The Song Dynasty officially stipulated that every 770 pieces could be consistent, and the Jin Dynasty was 800 pieces for consistency. There was no formal regulation of the political axe in the Ming and Qing dynasties, but the situation of insufficient counting still existed, and the habit of undercounting coins was also different in different regions, different commercial scopes and occasions.

As paper money, it must be officially stated that paper money represents a sufficient amount of money in order to circulate in different regions and occasions. And the dragon currency that Wang Chenhao wants to reform is a currency with complete credit, and it has to be recognized by the great powers, so its situation is different.

But Wang Chenhao didn't think so far-reaching, and agreed under the persuasion of his subordinates.

Subsequently, Song Hanzhang and others, under the guidance of the American currency expert Jingqi, immediately made a sample pattern and submitted it to Wang Chenhao for review.

Wang Chenhao saw that these patterns had a representative surname, which was complex and difficult to imitate and easy for the people to recognize, so he nodded in agreement.

The dragon coin was finally finalized on the 24th, and the patterns on the obverse were various mythical beasts and rui beasts. There are the picture of the descending green dragon, the picture of the white tiger crossing the stream, the picture of the nine heavens of Fengxiang, the map of the turtle going out of the sea, the picture of the unicorn sending Rui, etc., and the back is the portrait of Wang Chenhao's half-length navy and army marshal. There are also more than 30 auxiliary motifs, which are combined with motifs to make the banknotes hundreds of times more complex, but without losing their beauty. In particular, the use of professional dyeing pigments, coupled with exquisite painting work, makes various patterns lifelike, and has a strong artistic appreciation value.

The dragon coin is divided into 100 yuan, 50 yuan, 20 yuan, 10 yuan, 5 yuan, 1 yuan, 5 jiao, 2 jiao, 1 jiao, and then 5 cents, 2 cents and 1 cent.

After the design of the dragon coin design was completed, Zhang Jiaxuan and others immediately put into the intense plate-making process. The plate-making process plays a very important role in the anti-counterfeiting of banknotes. An important part of the anti-counterfeiting process in banknote printing technology is plate making. The plate-making of banknotes can be basically divided into two types: hand-engraved and machine-engraved. The engraving of banknotes is based on the main picture, pattern, ornament, line, text, etc. in the original design manuscript. The main picture, such as the characters and landscapes on the banknotes, is carved into the original model by hand, while the text, lines, geometric patterns, etc. are engraved by the machine and made into a master by means of photography. After proofing the original horizontal and master, it is reviewed by the political axe and then handed over to the mint before the entire plate can be produced.

The plate-making process is extremely strict, and all participants sign confidentiality agreements, and are subject to regular reviews by the political axe supervision department to ensure that secrets are not leaked.

Samples are made in this case and then secretly sent to the mint for printing.

This involves the collective conditioning of printing plates, paper, ink, printing press, etc. Banknotes are printed by a special money printing machine, and both banknotes and inks are specially made by state secrecy in order to strengthen the anti-counterfeiting function of banknotes.

The length, width and thickness of the dragon coins are different from the existing paper money sizes in countries around the world, so the mint bought back 500 printing presses from abroad at a high price, and then secretly transformed them into the relevant printing sizes of the dragon coins.

When it comes to anti-counterfeiting, that is the link that Wang Chenhao is most concerned about.

The manufacture of banknotes is not something that can be done in a simple process. In a banknote printing factory, it has to go through a number of processes, such as soaking watermarks, adding colored fibers, making yin and yang complementary patterns, adding braille dots, etc., and the printed banknotes are a whole large sheet, and finally go through the process of cutting, counting, and tying.

Finally, the printed banknotes will be transferred, and the final process is to print the serial number of the ticket. After the stamping, the central bank will issue it to the major commercial banks, so that it will circulate in the society.

Paper has always been one of the traditional anti-counterfeiting means of paper money, and it is still rare to see counterfeit money using the same paper as the RMB, which shows that paper is a powerful means of anti-counterfeiting. However, counterfeit money syndicates with high-tech means can also create paper that is difficult for ordinary people to distinguish, and the older the banknote, the more difficult it is to distinguish. In fact, people who understand chemistry understand that the alarm of the counterfeit money detector is only the fluorescent effect produced by the paper, and the fluorescent effect is only due to the addition of fluorescent brighteners when making paper, so it can be seen that it is not difficult to create paper that can resist ultraviolet rays.

However, that was a century later, and for Wang Chenhao at this time, those were issues that he didn't need to care about.

At this time, the world distinguishes the authenticity of banknotes in addition to looking at the pattern and workmanship, 70% of them look at the texture of the paper. The real banknote is dense, wear-resistant, inking-strong and the paper is firm. The paper of the dragon coin is made of special linen and cotton paper, which is superimposed by 25 layers of paper, and then imported from foreign countries to the thousand-ton compressor is stamped 13 times at a time, and the dragon coin of 25 layers of paper is compressed to 1.5 layers of thickness, so that the dragon coin becomes quite strong, wear-resistant, and foam-resistant, and the dragon coin pattern on it is deep into the 25 layers to form a three-dimensional effect, which can be felt by touch.

Even if the counterfeit banknote can imitate the pattern, it is difficult to get the paper made of banknotes, I don't know the compression layer of the dragon coin, the thickness of the counterfeit banknote can not be done, and the counterfeit banknote is printed in large quantities, and the pattern of the printing press is painted, not stamped out by the thousand-ton stamping machine, so 90% of the counterfeit banknotes can be directly touched by hand.

This process came to be known as gravure printing. It means that the graphic part on the printing plate is convex, and the ink of the printed graphic is also convex, and the graphic lines are clear, the layers are clear, and the hand can feel it.

This printing technology not only has a protective effect on the paper, but also has the ability to prevent counterfeiting. Gravure printing is one of the ancient and complex printing techniques, and it is difficult to imitate. In the 21st century, most counterfeit banknotes are generally scanned and printed by computer, and they can be distinguished by the touch. The powerful counterfeit banknote group uses photogravure printing, but it is still unable to imitate the depth of the pit, that is, the shade of the print. That's why it's mandatory to use gravure printing for securities. Of course, as with paper security, the older the banknote, the more difficult it is to distinguish the authenticity.

The watermark is the second anti-counterfeiting item of the dragon coin. Once upon a time, watermarks were almost one of the most important tools for identifying banknotes. But after the 21st century, watermark paper has become commoner, and it is difficult to distinguish it.

However, in Wang Chenhao's time, the manufacture of watermark paper is still a complex and vast papermaking process, its production process was invented in Italy in the 13th century, integrating design, engraving, netting, papermaking and other complex processes, not the general papermaking company can complete.

The watermark of the dragon coin is sandwiched on the left side of the banknote, and the watermark pattern of Wang Chenhao is on it, which can be completely overlapped with the color portrait of Wang Chenhao on the back against the sunlight, which has become the unique portrait watermark overlapping anti-counterfeiting technology of the dragon coin. At this time, the watermark pattern of banknotes such as sterling and US dollars only stayed on the font and simple pattern.

This brings the rise in the manufacturing cost of dragon coins, but the advantage is that the anti-counterfeiting ability is strong, and the political axes of the great powers want to imitate the dragon coins are also quite troublesome and troublesome, and the labor costs of foreign countries are high, even if they become enemies one day, it is difficult for the political axes of the great powers to make profits on counterfeit banknotes.

After the banknote is printed, it has to go through a series of work to ensure that it is correct before it can be issued and circulated. The operations at this stage mainly include: checking and filling gaps, printing numbers, cutting, reprinting numbers, replacing bad tickets, counting the quantity, packaging and warehousing, etc.

In general, the printing process of dragon coins is basically carried out according to the process of issuance: designing banknote drawings→ making engravings→ making printing plates→ offset printing→ embossing printing→ printing numbers→ inspecting large sheets→ cutting them into single sheets→ checking the number of single sheets→ counting the quantity→ packing and putting them into → warehouses, etc.

In addition to printing banknotes, the mint also produced auxiliary coins under 1 yuan, minting 1 yuan dragon coins in full two pieces of silver, and the following coins were minted at an equivalent value according to the exchange rules.

The equivalent minting of coins was because Wang Chenhao was preparing to implement the gold standard in the Zhili area, and the basic premise of the gold standard was that seigniorage could not be extracted, and the exchange of currency and gold at full equivalence must be ensured.

Therefore, the disguised extraction of seigniorage tax and other problems in the provinces of the Great Qing Dynasty were all prohibited, and the mint was carried out under the direct supervision of the parliament, and the violators were severely dealt with.

On August 1, the Beiyang Mint officially began to print banknotes and mint coins, five production lines can print and mint a total value of 500,000 dragon coins per day, of which the banknotes are printed, escorted by the army to the Tianjin branch of the Bank of America, and the Bank of America will print the "Zhili Dragon Coin" logo, as well as the serial number of the banknote for bank statistical identification. Then the Bank of America put the 500,000 dragon coins into the bank exchange vault to wait for issuance, and then deposited the corresponding 500,000 dragon coins worth of gold into the central treasury as the basis for the reciprocal issuance of dragon coins, and also prepared for the implementation of the gold standard in advance.

After the dragon coin was determined, Wang Chenhao stipulated the actual value of the dragon coin in the name of Li Hongzhang in the Zhili area in the form of law, and 1 dragon coin contained 1.50463 grams of gold, which is consistent with the gold content of the US dollar, that is, 1 dragon coin can be exchanged for 1 US dollar, or the equivalent can be exchanged for 1.50463 grams of gold.

Dragon coins can only be printed and minted at the Beiyang Mint designated by Wang Chenhao, and only the Tianjin Branch of the Bank of America is allowed to number the dragon coins and have the right to issue dragon coins.

Subsequently, Wang Chenhao issued an order on behalf of Li Hongzhang to prohibit the circulation of all the paper money and gold and silver hard currencies of various countries circulating in the territory of Zhili, and ordered the people to go to the Bank of America to exchange the paper money and hard currency of various countries into dragon currency, and then required the use of dragon coins for settlement on the territory of Zhili.

Of course, Li Hongzhang did not completely interfere with Wang Chenhao's actions, and he had to stop using Beiyang treasure coupons when issuing dragon coins, cutting off a financial route for Li Hongzhang. Therefore, Wang Chenhao had to let go and take back all the Beiyang treasure coupons circulating throughout the country for Li Hongzhang. Because the paper money of the Qing Dynasty was often artificially increased in circulation, becoming one of the means of collecting money, so the copper coins with the consistent face value of the Beiyang treasure coupons were actually issued three times more, resulting in their actual value of only one-third of the copper coins. In other words, Li Hongzhang amassed a lot of wealth by issuing additional banknotes, and Wang Chenhao had to pay for Li Hongzhang in order to get Li Hongzhang's nod and support. For this reason, Wang Chenhao gave Li Hongzhang two million US dollars in vain.

Two million US dollars is an astronomical amount for Li Hongzhang, so he blocked Li Hongzhang's mouth, made him no longer care about Wang Chenhao's affairs, and handed over all the affairs of Zhili to Wang Chenhao. But two million dollars is just a drop in the bucket for Wang Chenhao, Wang Chenhao does not suffer losses, but can do it more freely and earn more.

After the dragon coin, the common currency of Zhili, is determined, all that remains is the two major problems of gold reserves and dragon coin reserves necessary for comprehensive promotion.

On this issue, the American financial expert Jing Qi is an expert.

On the issue of gold reserves, Jingqi believes that the gold reserves are equivalent to 25%-30% of the total amount of Singapore currency at most, and after the new system is stabilized, it will be about 10%-15%.

Historically, in 1897, China's total GDP was about 1.95 billion Mexican eagles, equivalent to 1.2 billion US dollars. However, that was in the case of the defeat in the First Sino-Japanese War and the payment of land reparations. The emergence of Wang Chenhao has changed this result, and the total GDP is second only to the total GDP of the United States at $1.5 billion, at $1.43 billion. Of the $230 million increase in GDP, the rest of China's provinces remained largely unchanged, mainly due to growth from the Beijing-Tianjin-Tang industrial base in Wang's Zhili region.

According to the calculation of Jingqi, the country's total economic output of 1.43 billion US dollars, about 1.2 billion yuan (pieces) of dragon coins can be printed and minted.

The issuance of dragon coins in the country is a long-term goal, and for Wang Chenhao at the moment, he only needs to issue them in the Zhili area. The total economic output of Zhili Province accounts for more than half of the country, but the population is only 33 million, according to the proportion of about 5 yuan per person to circulate, the initial total gold reserve is only 55 million yuan.

Originally, Jingqi was worried that Wang Chenhao would not be able to come up with so much money, and he had not yet planned a plan for Wang Chenhao to reserve the reserve fund, which could be realized by using the minting difference, donations, foreign debts, etc. In particular, appropriate collateral is required for the purpose of financing external debt. The mortgage may come from the following sources: the increase in customs revenues, the monopoly of opium, liquor, etc. The increase of money and grain in the land, the rights of mines, railways, the establishment of various taxes by the household department, and so on.

However, to Jingqi's surprise, Wang Chenhao declined his kindness, and all the funds were directly provided by the Bank of America, and Wang Chenhao directly used 60 million yuan of gold reserves, and even 5 million yuan more as an emergency.

And under the side knock of Jingqi, he knew that the boss behind the original Bank of America was Wang Chenhao, and he couldn't help but look at Wang Chenhao in surprise, feeling that the Chinese in front of him was too powerful, much stronger than he imagined.

Wang Chenhao's issuance of dragon coins in the Zhili territory is very smooth, firstly, Wang Chenhao's preparation is sufficient, there is a strong Bank of America to provide a stable supply of money, and the dragon currency can be exchanged for gold at any time through the Bank of America, this kind of credit is very satisfactory to people of all walks of life in the Zhili territory, especially the merchants, they are most worried about various forms of "money loss", "silver loss", which will bring them huge risks in business. The value of the dragon coin is stable and directly linked to gold, which allows merchants to virtually remove a huge trade risk and is naturally sought after.

Second, the discovery of the dragon coin was based on the credit of the Governor's Mansion of Zhili, and Wang Chenhao's personal charm played an incomparably huge role. Wang Chenhao, as the pillar of the country and the image of a great hero in the eyes of the people, has great influence among the people, especially in the Zhili territory, and the people feel extremely safe and trusted under Wang Chenhao's rule. When they found that the human avatar on the dragon coin was Wang Chenhao, that invisible sense of trust arose, which made the dragon coin circulate quickly among the people, and even once appeared to be proud of holding the dragon coin. Most of the people only heard of Wang Chenhao's name, but they didn't have the opportunity to see the real person, the photo of Wang Chenhao in the newspaper is black and white, and now the bust of Wang Chenhao on the dragon coin is color, and the original intention of many people to exchange the dragon coin is just to see the true face of Wang Chenhao in their minds.

Third, the monetary systems of other provinces have been interfered with by various countries, and in some provinces, the minting and issuing agencies and even the banks behind a certain country are plotting, colluding with local officials to squeeze the hard-earned money of ordinary people. But this situation is not in Zhili Province, in addition to Wang Chenhao's good relationship with the powers of various countries, more importantly, the first purpose of Wang Chenhao's currency reform is to think about the country and the people, and then to make money personally. Under the influence of this atmosphere, the issuance of dragon coins in Zhili Province is completely based on the actual gold reserves and the demand of market circulation. It makes the circulation of dragon coins stable, curbs inflation and deflation, stabilizes prices, and allows people to use them with peace of mind.

(To be continued)