Chapter 175 New Treasure Notes
In the imperial study of the Ming Dynasty's Yingtian Prefecture, Old Zhu sat upright, staring at the memorial in front of him with a frown, concentrating intently.
This was Zhu Yuanzhang's daily homework. Ever since he came to power, he had been like a diligent old ox, always thinking about how to govern the country and how to govern the country well. Memorials became the key to his understanding and solving these problems.
An eunuch hurried in from outside and, while Old Zhu was drinking tea, quickly stepped forward to report, "Your Majesty, His Royal Highness the Prince of Qin requests an audience!"
"Hmm?" Old Zhu put down his teacup, looking puzzled. "Did that kid say why he came?"
"Your Majesty, His Royal Highness the Prince of Qin said that the new banknotes have been produced and are ready to be presented to you for your review."
"Hmm?" Old Zhu's voice suddenly rose. He immediately stood up and waved his hand. "Then what are you waiting for? Let him in."
Old Zhu has been urging Zhu Chong a lot recently, and even warned him implicitly to speed up the production of treasure notes.
But Zhu Chong was neither hurried nor slow. Not only that, he was always doing something weird, either dealing with coal mines or steelmaking. A while ago, he even bought up a large amount of cotton, causing chaos in Yingtian Prefecture.
But Zhu Yuanzhang did not expect that Zhu Chong had already produced the new treasure notes without any warning, and he did not even notice it, which made Zhu Yuanzhang very confused.
Old Zhu subconsciously glanced at the dark corner and suddenly realized that Mao Xiang was not there. He had just been sent out by Mao Xiang to do something important.
At this time, Zhu Chong walked in with a tray. Unexpectedly, following behind him was the Minister of Works Qin Kui.
The tray in Zhu Chong's hand was filled with various types of banknotes, while Qin Kui was holding the printing plate of the banknotes.
"Your Majesty, your servants, Zhu Chong and Qin Kui, bow to your Majesty. Long live the Emperor! Long live the Emperor! Long, long live the Emperor!"
"Everyone, get up!" Old Zhu stood on the steps with his hands behind his back, his eyes fixed on the tray in Zhu Chong's hand. "Second brother, your treasure banknotes have kept us waiting for a long time!"
"Thanks to your Majesty's blessing and the hard work of the craftsmen, I have finally succeeded in making this product. Please review it, Your Majesty!" Zhu Chong handed the tray to the eunuch beside him.
The eunuch immediately took it respectfully, trotted over to Old Zhu and presented it to him for his review.
Old Zhu just took a look at the treasure banknotes in the tray and frowned.
The new treasure notes were not what he had imagined. The previous treasure notes were all larger in size, but the treasure notes on the tray were generally smaller in size, and the denominations were getting smaller and smaller, which made Lao Zhu very curious.
Old Zhu was born into a peasant family and believed that everything should be as big as possible, including banknotes. He was very dissatisfied with the design of the new banknotes and could not help but look up at Zhu Chong and ask, "Second Brother, what were you thinking about these new banknotes? Why are they all so small?"
"Reporting to Your Majesty," Zhu Chong hurriedly explained, "I, your son, have considered many factors comprehensively. To make it easier for the people of the world to use the treasure notes for transactions, I have decided on this version. You see, this treasure note is of a moderate size and easy to handle. Even if you have a large amount, it won't affect your ability to carry it with you!"
"Then, after comprehensively considering the craftsmanship of the Treasure Banknote Administration, I believe that this size of banknote can minimize waste and save expenses for the court. Of course, there are certainly areas that I have not considered, and I welcome your corrections, Father."
After hearing what Zhu Chong said, Old Zhu frowned, turned around and looked carefully at the banknotes on the tray, picked up one and looked at it carefully. It was indeed as Zhu Chong said, such a banknote, which could only be held in one hand at most, was indeed much more convenient to use.
The smallest treasure notes in the past were one foot square. Not only were they inconvenient to carry, but because they were made of paper, they would rot and wear out after being folded many times, carried for a long time, or soaked in water, making them unusable.
Therefore, the previous treasure notes were used to a large extent without considering the habits of the people and whether they were convenient to carry.
Zhu Chong's version of treasure notes was designed with precision in mind, both in terms of size and portability, especially the paper material. Even if folded, it would not be easily damaged like previous treasure notes.
Of course, the main reason why Zhu Chong used this size of treasure notes was for his own convenience. To Zhu Chong, it was to save costs and save money for the court.
However, what Zhu Chong said was half true and half false. The previous treasure note production process was indeed too wasteful. Even though the previous banknote paper materials were cheap, the usage rate was too low.
Like the previous version of treasure banknotes, a maximum of six treasure banknotes can be printed on a piece of paper. After the excess blank area is cut off, it can only be discarded as waste paper, which is extremely wasteful.
Zhu Chong's new treasure notes can be printed on at least thirty notes on a piece of paper, and the waste rate after cutting is extremely low. Even if the cost of new materials such as cotton is increased, the increased cost can be completely ignored due to the low waste rate.
So after listening to Zhu Chong's introduction, Old Zhu looked at the treasure banknotes carefully and easily figured out the key. He nodded in agreement with Zhu Chong's statement. After looking at the treasure banknotes carefully again, he found the patterns more pleasing to the eye than the previous ones and could not help but nodded.
The main reason was that the new treasure note was just as Zhu Chong said. Among so many complicated patterns, it had his bust engraved on it through a special technique, and it was almost exactly the same as the one in the painting he gave to Zhu Chong.
Moreover, when Old Zhu touched the portrait, he found that his portrait had an uneven texture, while the area of the treasure banknote other than his portrait did not have this uneven feeling. This made Old Zhu marvel at it and feel very satisfied.
"You're not bad, kid. You said before that you could definitely make treasure notes that would satisfy me. At that time, I thought you were just bragging. Now it seems that you really have some ability. Not bad!"
Old Zhu was delighted and nodded, saying, "Tell me, the new treasure notes are ready. What reward do you want?"
"I dare not give any reward. I will be happy with whatever your Majesty gives me. As long as your Majesty is happy, that's all." Zhu Chong finally breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that the old Zhu was satisfied. Now that the treasure notes were made, he had the confidence to negotiate terms with the old Zhu.
"You kid!" Old Zhu knew his own family business. Seeing that Zhu Chong didn't say anything, he knew that he was embarrassed to speak in front of outsiders. He didn't care and changed the subject. "Hey, let me see your treasure banknotes, they seem to be very different from before?"
"Exactly!" Qin Kui, the Minister of Works, had been waiting for a long time before finally finding an opportunity to interrupt. "Your Majesty, when His Royal Highness the Prince of Qin showed me the new version of the banknotes, I could hardly believe it. Compared to the previous ones, these new banknotes have many wonderful features!"
"Oh?" Old Zhu blinked and looked at Qin Kui, a little confused. In fact, he was not curious about what Qin Kui said, but that Qin Kui took the initiative to interrupt at this time, and Zhu Chong did not show any displeasure.
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