Emperor Ming Dynasty

Chapter 595
"Are you making fun of me?"

Pulling his beard, Zhou Wei was trembling with anger, his face was red and his neck was thick, and he was almost out of breath.

After all, he is also a majestic official of the imperial court, but he was so fooled, he felt that his dignity was trampled on the soles of his feet,
The cold wind howled, making Zhou Wei's heart even colder.

"Hey, it's my fault that I didn't make it clear."

The clerk shook his head and said with a smile: "Although the grain is in Tongzhou, His Majesty has considered that Tongzhou and the capital are separated by a distance. Now that the autumn wind is blowing, it is difficult for people and horses to travel, so he simply thought of a good idea."

As he spoke, he took out a stack of papers from the box beside him.

I saw that its surface is exquisite, with a winding Great Wall carved on the front, as well as mountains and valleys, and a stone is written in the middle.

Ant-like numbers are printed on the bottom: Shaowu three-year system.

The most conspicuous ones are the huge official seal of the household department in the lower right corner, and the private seal of Jiang Yueguang, the secretary of the household department.

One big and one small, very intimidating.

On the back, there are towering granaries. There are a large number of grain ships docked near the pier, as well as many moving workers. A wide river is very conspicuous.

There is a line of words printed on the top: Ministry of household food stamps, redeemable upon receipt.

The bottom is: if there is forgery, conspiracy theory will be punished.

It feels smooth and delicate, but when you rub it carefully, it is uneven and has a texture.

"Look——" Seeing his appearance, the man picked up the food stamp and pointed it at the sun, and a relatively transparent peony flower appeared immediately.

The watermark is operated synchronously when the paper is manufactured, so that the density of the pulp deposited in the watermark is different, thus forming different graphic effects.

It was born as early as the [-]th century, and it was applied to anti-counterfeiting until the [-]th and [-]th centuries, and it was used as a pillar during the period of the British Empire on which the sun never sets.

"Hey, who can imitate this thing?"

"It looks good!"

Zhou Wei nodded, then his face turned pale and his lips trembled: "Is this a treasure note?"

He felt that these food stamps were extremely hot at this moment, and he wished to throw them [-] paces away and never see them again.

No wonder he thought so, the Jiaozi of the Song Dynasty, and the precious banknotes of the Yuan and Ming Dynasties all made the common people want to die, and they were merciless in harvesting.

The imperial court only cares about sending out, not accepting, depreciating crazily, and wiping buttocks are all regarded as too hard.

The treasure banknotes of the Ming Dynasty were made of mulberry paper, and at the same time, the discarded official paper was used as an ingredient for beating. This kind of paper is thicker, wear-resistant, strong in tension, good in water absorption, does not soak in writing, does not fade easily, and is not eaten by insects. Technology costs are high.

In fact, there is no need for anti-counterfeiting at all, and anyone who imitates will go bankrupt, which is not enough cost.

During the Ming Dynasty, it was especially fond of using precious banknotes to exchange salary, which deceived many officials, and later it became a common practice.

So when he saw this thing, although the name was food stamps, in his eyes, it was a treasure to deceive people.

"No, absolutely not."

The clerk decisively explained: "With this food stamp, you can go directly to the granary to redeem the grain without any delay."

As he said that, he actually said directly: "Your monthly salary is ten yuan, and now the market price is one stone and one cent of rice. You should have received nine stones and one bucket, but now His Majesty has favored you with ten stones."

After all, he handed over ten food stamps directly.

One silver dollar is one thousand Wen, one silver dollar is equal to ten silver cents, and one silver cent is equal to ten copper coins.

A piece of paper is worth more than one yuan, Zhou Wei couldn't believe it.

Zhou Wei held the food stamp tremblingly, and said in disbelief: "Can it really be exchanged for food?"

"Tianjin warehouse and Tongzhou warehouse can be exchanged, so is it necessary to deceive you?"

The secretary waved his hand and said, "The grain in the household department is piled up like a mountain, how can you still lie to you with this grain?"

Zhou Wei was dubious, and then left.

"Father, where's the food?"

"No food, only this!"

"Treasure notes?"

The son was startled, his face changed drastically, he was even uglier than his dead father.

"It's food stamps."

Zhou Wei emphasized, then dragged him, and led the donkey cart out: "We father and I have worked hard, and we will go to Tongzhou for a walk. If the household department dares to lie to me, I will, I will..."

After a few words, there was really no way to deal with it, so he could only sigh: "Let's go, you can get a little bit."

The cold wind was biting, but it was not as cold as his heart.

Unexpectedly, just after their father and son left, a few people who looked like businessmen came over:
"Did you two receive food stamps?"

"How do you know?" Zhou Wei frowned, watching his cunning appearance carefully, showing a hint of caution.

"Hey, I'm here to collect food stamps today."

The man laughed, and then said: "Let's open the skylight and tell the truth, I will cover all the food stamps in your hand, and I will give them to you at the market price."

"Really?" The son beside him was inexplicably surprised.

"Of course!" The businessman showed a smile, "It's just that the food stamps have to be discounted by [-] percent."

"I have thirteen food stamps, how much can you give me?"

Zhou Wei narrowed his eyes and said tentatively.

"A stone of grain is now about one yuan, and half price is five yuan to me."

As he said that, the businessman took out the money bag from his pocket without thinking, and the loud and crisp sound was extremely pleasant, and he grabbed out five silver coins:

"Pay the money with one hand, and deliver the goods with the other hand. You are an official, so I dare not deceive you."

The white silver coins were right in front of his eyes, and his son's eyes were wide open.

"father--"

"Sorry, the price is too low!" Zhou Wei rolled his eyes and turned away.

"It's easy to negotiate, easy to negotiate, how about [-]%? [-]%? [-]%, the best price——"

But as the price got higher and higher, Zhou Wei's pace became faster and faster.

"Father, those are white silver coins!"

The son looked at his old and strong father, and couldn't help scratching his head: "Your grandson is still waiting to buy cucurbit silk!"

"Fart!" Zhou Wei swears, and said directly: "You are easy to be fooled, if you change, you will lose a lot."

As he said that, he stopped and taught, "No business, no fraud. If he is willing to buy [-]%, he will be able to sell [-]%, [-]%. How can one or two silver dollars be settled at will?"

"Father, are you saying that this treasure is worth something?"

"This is food stamps, food stamps."

Saying that, Zhou Wei narrowed his eyes, stroked his goatee and said:
"Tomorrow, take a few food stamps and go to Tongzhou to see if you can redeem the food. If you can redeem it, you can exchange two stones back first, and take care of our family's food."

"Don't worry about the rest."

Soon, when the father and son went home and inquired, there were rumors that the food stamps could be redeemed, or even used as money, and they were worth eight or nine cents!
In mind.

"Mother, there are too many profiteers at the feet of the emperor, and today I almost cheated out a few dollars..."

In the palace, Wu Bangfu, the commander of Jinyiwei, reported: "Your Majesty, there are 37 people who exchange food stamps, totaling 310 shi."

"You did a good job."

Zhu Yixi praised him.

Everything has to be trusted.

As long as food stamps can be exchanged for food in time, their value is equivalent to money.

Unlike treasure banknotes, which are linked to the reputation of the imperial court, food stamps are linked to food, which is more reassuring than gold and silver, and gives people natural confidence.

This kind of counterfeit banknotes can form a time difference, so that the court has surplus food to tide over the financial crisis.

It is a wise move to discard the precious money.

This is just an emergency supplement to the finances.

(End of this chapter)