Chapter 18 Issuance of Silver Notes

  Zheng Shichang's eyes rolled over, and he almost choked with rage. "I'm the one who does all the hard work for you, while you just reap the benefits," he thought to himself, but didn't dare say out loud. Instead, he forced a somber expression and furrowed his brow, saying: "Fourteenth Master, although I've been running this silver exchange for many years, issuing silver notes is a first for me. Moreover, in the previous dynasty, it was only the government that issued silver notes, and they never considered the problem of redemption. There's no experience to draw from."

  "Imitation is all you know? Can't you come up with something original?" Yun Chen complained irritably.

  Zheng Shichang didn't dare make a sound, but in his heart he was secretly muttering, "Innovation, you say it so easily, why don't you try innovating for once?"

  After racking his brains for half a day, Yong Zheng still couldn't think of a good solution, but issuing silver notes was inevitable. He let out a long sigh and said, "Manager Zheng, I don't have a good solution to this problem for the time being, so we can only start with the system."

  "What system?" Zheng Shichang was taken aback.

  "It's just a store rule. One, all silver tickets cannot be exchanged across provinces. Two, the collected silver tickets and meeting tickets must be stamped by the cashier, accountant, and warehouse manager before they can be exchanged for silver. Three, the above three personnel will be rotated regularly. Four, regular and irregular audits will be conducted to check the accounts and silver storage. Five, any of the 'Four Great Constants' apprentices or miscellaneous workers can report at any time, and if true, will be heavily rewarded. I just thought of these five points, you've been running a silver shop for so many years, you must have some experience, go ahead and perfect the rest."

  Zheng Shichang nodded as he listened, and now he was increasingly unable to understand this Fourteenth Master. Although these five points were not particularly new, they were the accumulated experience of a veteran silver number, and even in a hurry, it was impossible to get to the point, let alone be so comprehensive and meticulous. Especially the point that silver tickets cannot be transferred across provinces not only guaranteed the profit of the ticket number but also greatly strengthened the regulatory force.

  On September 6th at noon, the silver notes of 'Si Da Heng' spread all over the capital.

  Officials, minor officials, gatekeepers, eunuchs, and merchants all fondled the silver notes with relish, each wondering how this small piece of paper could be exchanged for silver at the "Four Great Hengs".

  As the silver notes became more and more widespread, the entire capital city was stirred up. All the wine shops, tea houses, brothels, business establishments, bustling streets, docks, and street corners, wherever people gathered, were discussing the "Four Great Constants" silver notes.

  "Can this piece of paper really be exchanged for silver at the 'Four Great Money Shops'?"

  "Is there anything in this world that's so cheap? Isn't it like having silver fall from the sky?"

  "Don't spout nonsense, 'Four Great Constants' is a golden signboard, what kind of logic is it to smash one's own signboard?"

  "What's the point of arguing? Go try 'Four Great Constants' and you'll know."

  "You haven't heard? It's going to be exchanged on the ninth of September."

  "Ah, take a look quickly, I heard there's a five-pointed star inside the paper."

  As a large number of silver tickets were scattered out on the seventh and eighth days of the Lunar New Year, the entire city of Beijing went crazy.

  For three whole days, the only topic of discussion in the entire capital was the silver note of 'Four Great Constants'.

  In all the discussions, Zheng Shichang is the undisputed protagonist. Even his wearing open-crotch pants to play with mud was blown out of proportion, and some people even said he had gone crazy.

  However, the ones who were truly driven mad were some of the silver note owners in Beijing. They studied the "Four Great Constants" silver notes back and forth for half a day, each one becoming more despondent than the last. They could copy them, but the watermarks inside would be impossible to reproduce for the time being. Not to mention issuing silver notes, even if they were to make counterfeit ones, it was probably already too late.

  "The Four Greats" were originally the only ones in the capital city, now with the joint ticket and silver ticket, where will they have a foothold for their silver number in the future.

  On the ninth day of September, Chongyang Festival, in the morning, the four major Heng's five branches in Beijing simultaneously opened for business, and people who came to exchange silver tickets for silver coins lined up in a long queue.

  Regardless of the head office or branch, eye-catching places in the store are posted with different amounts of silver tickets and voucher samples. What's even more shocking is the dense array of branches opened all over the country.

  The bosses of various banks who came to congratulate, although they expected 'Si Da Heng' to open a draft business, but when they saw the two rows of dense branch names, they were all shocked.

  The 'Four Great Constants' have a big handwriting, and they are blooming everywhere. With one move, they occupied the entire rich land of Southeast Asia. The crowd of shopkeepers didn't have the heart to stay, exchanged a few pleasantries, and hurriedly left. Time is not waiting for me, hurry up and grab the territory.

  Seeing the extensive distribution of 'Four Great Heng's branches, many customers who came to watch were amazed at the substantial funds of 'Four Great Heng' and also had extreme trust in it. Originally with an attitude of watching, they went back to fetch silver coins one after another, starting to try exchanging silver notes tentatively.

  Ordinary people are not interested in silver tickets, they think that carrying copper coins and white silver is more practical. However, officials and merchants think that silver tickets are good, with tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of them being carried on their person, without showing any signs of wealth, making transactions convenient, giving rewards convenient, and bribery also convenient.

  In just a few days, silver tickets became the most fashionable thing in Beijing. Whether they were officials or merchants, especially those who cared about their status and dignity, if they didn't have a few silver tickets on them, they simply didn't dare to go out.

  In the various wine shops, tea houses, brothels and theaters of the capital city, people initially rushed to exchange their silver coins for banknotes in the first few days. However, after exchanging several times, they realized that they had lost a lot due to the handling fees charged for exchanging silver coins for banknotes. A few days later, the 'Four Big Banks' only issued banknotes and rarely accepted them back.

  In just a few days, he exchanged over 1 million silver notes and made Zheng Shichang laugh in his sleep.

  Seeing the smooth issuance of silver tickets in Beijing, Yin Zhen also breathed a sigh of relief and immediately let Zheng Shichang send people to Tianjin, Lushun, Baoding and other surrounding areas for small-scale issuance of silver tickets, slowly expanding outward.

  On September 17th, Kangxi returned to Rehe. On the same day, he issued an imperial edict appointing Nian Gengyao as the governor of Sichuan.

  When this edict was issued, the Fourth Prince Yinzhen and Nian Gengyao were overjoyed, while the Ninth and Tenth Princes were depressed, mixed with a little admiration for Yinzhen. The Eighth Prince Yinsi, on the other hand, was extremely shocked. For five months, he had been attending to Kangxi's side, and in those five months, Kangxi's edicts had been frequent, with complete control over the appointment and dismissal of officials. What made the Fourteenth Prince dare to confirm that Nian Gengyao would take up the post of Governor of Sichuan six months ago?

  Yinreng was puzzled, such as the transfer and appointment of officials like Yinti and Yinwu. It is impossible for Kangxi to reveal any signs half a year ago. How did Yinreng find out? Was it guessing the emperor's intention or had he figured out the emperor's strategy in using people?

  Yin Zhen did not expect that Kangxi would issue the appointment of Nian Gengyao from Rehe, and he also felt a bit headache. In case his brothers asked about it, it was really a bit difficult to explain.

  On September 23, Kangxi returned to the capital.

  On the twenty-fourth day, after the morning meeting, Yin Zhen was named by Kangxi and stayed behind.

  After the courtesy, Kangxi asked directly: "Where is your recommendation letter? Where did you throw it away? It's hard to be a cloud outside the border, and after so many days, I only got five votes! How can you bear it?"