People in the Ming Dynasty are lawless

Chapter 722 Business Opportunities in Voucher Manufacturing!!
Zheng Yan stared at the traces of tampering circled in red ink on the account book, and finally groaned: "...I will submit a report within three days."

After the meeting, Zhu Youwei grabbed Chen Han's sleeve in the corridor and asked, "Did you prepare the fake account books?"

"I had the Embroidered Uniform Guard send it urgently from Hangzhou last night." Chen Han lowered his voice, "The engravers at Gu's Bookstore confessed that some officials specialized in learning the strokes of changing the character '贰' into '叁'." He suddenly felt an itch in his palm - Zhu Youwei drew a "5" on his hand with her fingernails, and then quickly changed it to "3". Sure enough, the strokes were blurred where they were connected.

The two smiled at each other, but heard a commotion outside the courtyard wall. It turned out that a group of craftsmen were surrounding the physics department's craftsman supervisor, fighting for the newly printed "Logarithmic Table Simplified Edition".

There was an old craftsman with white hair who couldn't squeeze in. He stamped his feet anxiously and said, "My grandson is learning new math in the Women's Workshop. He said it can save half the abacus beads!"

Chen Han's eyes swept through the crowd and suddenly fixed on a tall and thin man in a silk shirt - the man was putting the logarithmic table he received into his sleeve pocket, with sneaky movements. He was about to signal the Jinyiwei, but Zhu Youwei held his wrist and said, "I deliberately let them come to get the Xu family." A sly look flashed in her eyes, "Once they get used to the new numbers, they will no longer be able to do without the gear numbers of the improved looms."

As he was talking, Li Zhen came running over: "Sir, there's a letter from Songjiang! The cloth merchants are clamoring to learn Arabic numerals for accounting, saying that the old characters are too slow to write the invoices..."

"No hurry." Chen Han took out a piece of rose pastry and broke it in half. He stuffed one half to Zhu Youwei and ate the other half himself. "Wait until Zheng Yan's proposal comes out, and let the Xu family be the first to pilot the 'dual-track accounting' - rewards for correct use and penalties for incorrect use."

The crumbs of puff pastry stuck to his lips and Zhu Youwei brushed them away with her hand.

The setting sun lengthened the shadows of the two people and cast them onto the newly hung "Women's Workshop Annual Production Trend Chart" on the wall. Next to the undulating curve, Arabic numerals were densely marked.

The afterglow of the setting sun sprinkled on the streets and alleys of Jinling City, and the signs of teahouses and taverns swayed gently in the evening breeze.

Chen Han stood on the steps of the Ministry of Revenue, looking at the endless stream of paper-carrying carts and horses in the distance, with the corners of his mouth slightly raised.

The sound of the wheels rolling over the bluestone slabs and the shouts of the street vendors are intertwined, which is three times more lively than the stringed instruments on the Qinhuai River.

"Sir, the Tongzhou Paper Mill has sent another 300 dan of new materials!" Li Zhen came over at a trot, with fresh straw pulp on the soles of his boots. "They said it was made according to the recipe of the Institute of Physics, mixed with Liaodong birch bark, and it won't rot even if it's soaked in water for three days."

Chen Han took the sample paper and held it up to the setting sun. The dark patterns on the paper were as fine as spider webs. "Tell the Ministry of Industry to order another 500 dan." He traced the edge of the paper with his fingertips. "This material can not only be used to print vouchers, but also for future imperial examinations."

Suddenly, a quarrel was heard around the corner. Several men in shorts were pointing and talking around the grain cart. The leader was holding up an indigo voucher and shouting, "We have dug the river for half a month, and we should be paid in new vouchers! This paper is easier to keep than copper coins!"

The grain merchant explained with a bitter face: "Sir, I have used all the change in the store to exchange for coupons, and I really can't make change..."

"It's easy if you can't find it!" Chen Han suddenly interrupted, shaking out a blue booklet from his sleeve, "The South Gate has just opened a 'voucher exchange office', and the exchange of small and large items only charges half a cent." He turned to a page and pointed at the illustration, "Look, it even clearly shows how to prevent the bag from being lost."

As the grain cart creaked away, Zhu Youwei came out of the alley with her skirt lifted up, and the wooden hairpin in her hair was stained with a few pieces of paper. "My husband, have you calculated it?" She put the abacus on the bluestone, "Just the laborers who beat the vouchers, there are three thousand more in the past half month."

The beads clattered, and Chen Han looked at the light and shadow dancing on her fingertips, and suddenly remembered the scene he saw when he passed by the suburbs five days ago. The abandoned brick kiln was emitting smoke again, and the kiln workers were shouting and moving the newly fired glazed tiles onto the truck - the edges of the tiles had anti-counterfeiting grooves designed by the School of Physics, which were specially used in the voucher warehouse.

"It's more than just pulping workers." He took the abacus and added a string of numbers, "The fisherwomen in Xuanwu Lake now specialize in catching water chestnuts, saying that the Institute of Physics is buying water chestnut fiber at a high price; the stonemasons in Xishan carve patterns, and their wages are 30% higher than those for carving tombstones; even the pleasure boats on the Qinhuai River have changed to transporting paper materials."

As the dusk deepened, the glass lanterns on the street lit up one after another. Zhu Youwei suddenly dragged him into an alley, and the aroma of hot pancakes hit him in the face. Seven or eight female workers wearing "Women's Workshop" sleeves were surrounding the stall, and the vouchers in their hands were glowing green under the lanterns.

"Aunt Zhang, please give me two more today!" The young female worker slapped the coupon on the chopping board. "My son said that this paper is better looking than copper coins, and he insisted on sticking it on the headboard of his bed as a painting!"

The stall owner smiled so hard that her teeth were showing. She rubbed her greasy fingers on her apron and said, "Wait a minute, girls. I specially mixed two more pounds of flour this morning!" The moment she opened the steamer, white mist wrapped in the wheat aroma surged out, blurring the cotton wool on the female workers' temples.

Chen Han suddenly noticed a new wooden sign hanging next to the stall, with the words "95% discount for coupons exchanged for sesame cakes" written crookedly on it. Zhu Youwei followed his gaze and chuckled, "The blacksmith Wang from Dongcheng made the lettering, and he said that all the shops on the street have to redo their price tags now."

As they walked back along the canal, there were many paper boats floating on the water - all made by children from discarded coupons. A little boy with pigtails was lying on the bridge railing, sticking a small silk flower on the bow of the boat.

"Mother said this can be used to make a wish." The child raised his dirty little face, "If you drift far away, you can go to a girls' school next year."

Chen Han squatted down, took out a newly minted copper coin and tied it to the end of the paper boat. The boat, carrying heavy wishes, swayed through the bridge hole, startling a few night herons.

Turning the corner of Confucian Temple Street, the noise suddenly increased tenfold. The entire street was filled with makeshift sheds, and the sounds of bamboo craftsmen scraping, dyeing workshops beating cloth, and blacksmiths hammering mixed together. A shirtless man was loading a newly made copper mold onto a cart, and beads of sweat rolled down his chest onto the positive text of "Hongwu Tongbao".

"The embossing mold ordered by the Institute of Physics." The man saw Chen Han stop and grinned, "This is the third batch today. The master craftsman from Yangzhou and his twenty apprentices are working overnight!"

Zhu Youwei suddenly tugged at her husband's sleeve. Looking in the direction she pointed, I saw a few scholars squatting in the shadows at the end of the alley, copying something into the account book by the light of a lantern. When I got closer, I could see clearly that the book was densely covered with "A Brief Account of the Circulation of Vouchers", and the handwriting was as neat as an engraving.

"Students from Songjiang." One of them said without even looking up. "Our prefect said that this voucher has revived thirty declining workshops in the city, so he sent us here to learn from it."

The night wind brought the sound of the night watchman's clapper, and Chen Han looked towards the direction of the imperial city. There he could vaguely see the brightly lit Ministry of Industry, with figures swarming down the corridor, as if they were checking the newly arrived Ryukyu sea sand samples overnight.

"My husband made a brilliant move." Zhu Youwei put the abacus back into her sleeve. "On the surface, it's issuing vouchers, but secretly it's revitalizing papermaking, engraving, transportation, food and accommodation." She suddenly pointed to the Liulichang in the distance, where flames were blazing. "I heard that the Guanglu Temple ordered 800 brocade boxes for the binding of the new vouchers?"

"More than that." Chen Han took out a piece of pine soot ink and drew on the wall, "The Tongzhengsi wants to print the "Anti-Counterfeiting Tips", the Imperial College wants to make the "New Number Comparison Table", and even the Five Military Commands Office came to ask how to use vouchers to pay military salaries..." The ink lines meandered on the bricks and stones, gradually forming the outline of Jinling City. When they passed Yanzhi Lane, several women wearing Hangzhou silk were chattering around the newly opened "Jinguo Dyeing Workshop". The shop was hung with indigo cloth banners, embroidered with the words "Vouchers for dyeing agents, 10% discount".

"Look at this Songjiang cloth, sisters!" The proprietress spread out a piece of lake blue fine cloth, "If you buy it with the new coupons, you will also get a special color-fixing formula made by the Institute of Physics for free!"

Chen Han suddenly recalled the scene he had seen three days ago. The shopkeeper of the Xu Family Silk Shop was squatting beside the dye vat, and he could not make the indigo color of the Jinguo Workshop. Finally, he gritted his teeth and used 300 vouchers to buy the dyeing recipe - and he exchanged those vouchers for parts of the improved loom in the blink of an eye.

As the night deepened and the dew became heavier, Zhu Youwei stopped at the corner tower. She untied the pouch at her waist and poured out a few ebony beads and laid them out on the ground: "According to my husband's calculation, every time the voucher is circulated, it can support three craftsmen..."

"Wrong." Chen Han moved the beads with his toes, "It's three and a half." He pointed to the new porridge stall built at the foot of the city wall, "Those porters who transport food can now eat dry rice every meal."

The gongs and drums of the fifth watch startled the birds sleeping on the city walls. When the first rays of sunlight penetrated the clouds, Chen Han saw countless fully loaded trucks rushing to Jinling from all directions. Some were loaded with birch bark from Liaodong, some were loaded with indigo from Lingnan, and most were farmers pushing their own products to exchange for coupons.

Their straw sandals stepped on the morning frost on the official road, leaving a trail of wet footprints behind them, which looked very much like the anti-counterfeiting ripples on the edge of the vouchers.

As the night deepened, the lights in Jinling City were brighter than ever. In the streets and alleys, the circulation of vouchers was like a spring breeze, quietly changing the appearance of this capital.

In the teahouses and taverns, the scoundrels who had originally sneered at the new policy of the imperial court were now speechless. They gathered in groups of three or four at the street corners, looking at the long queues at the newly established voucher exchange office at the South Gate with complicated expressions.

"Some time ago, they said this was a ridiculous thing that would 'shake the foundation of the country', but now, even the guys in my own shop are clamoring to use the vouchers to pay their wages..." A silk shop owner pinched his beard and muttered in a low voice. His companion stared at the wooden sign hanging on the opposite restaurant that read "10% off rice with vouchers" and sighed after a while: "The world has really changed."

It has indeed changed. On the shore of Xuanwu Lake, the water chestnuts caught by the fishermen are no longer just food for their stomachs, but are sent to the paper mill as raw materials for pulping; the stonemasons in Xishan work day and night, and the sound of chiseling as they carve the patterns of the vouchers is as clear as a bell. Even the children on the street corners have learned to fold small boats with discarded voucher paper, and they shout "New plow" as they drift away with the water. In this scene, how can there be any trace of "nonsense"?

When the new paper from Tongzhou Paper Mill was transported to the School of Physics, Zhu Youwei was standing under the eaves, stroking the paper mixed with Liaodong birch bark with her fingertips. "It's tougher than expected." She raised her eyes and smiled at Chen Han, "If those who shouted 'ghostly talismans' knew that the anti-counterfeiting dark patterns could be woven into cloth and printed on paper, they would probably be so scared that they couldn't sleep."

Chen Han weighed the copper abacus in his hand, and as the beads bounced, a string of new numbers appeared on the sand table. "It doesn't matter whether they can sleep or not, but the proposal made by Zheng in the past three days..." Before he finished speaking, Li Zhen came quickly and whispered a few words in his ear. Chen Han raised his eyebrows: "Hangzhou's fake account books have been delivered? Well, let's see how Zheng Yan will 'fairly' draft the case."

As they were talking, there was a sudden commotion outside the courtyard gate. The manager of the Songjiang cloth merchant squeezed in sweating profusely, followed by several accountants holding abacus. As soon as they met, they bowed and said, "Master Chen! Our boss said that if the Xu family can learn this method of accounting with Arabic numerals, we can learn it too!"

Zhu Youwei pursed her lips and smiled, then winked at Chen Han.

At five o'clock in the morning, Jinling City was already in a state of excitement. Trucks from all over the country loaded with grain, ironware, and cloth rushed to the city gate, and the sound of the drivers whipping and shouting startled the sparrows under the eaves. On Zhuque Street, a newly opened loom shop was surrounded by farmers as soon as the door panels were removed - vouchers were exchanged for spinning wheels, and a book "The Key to Speedy Weaving" was also given. The shop owner wiped his sweat and sighed to his clerk: "If I had known this would happen, why did I follow those people to curse in the street?"

On the corner tower of the imperial palace, Zhu Yuanzhang stood with his hands behind his back, looking into the distance. In the morning light, the streets were crowded with people, and the sounds of hawking, abacus, and wheels intertwined. He suddenly sneered and said to Zhu Biao beside him: "Look, we can issue a piece of paper, which is more effective than the imperial edict."

Zhu Biao looked at the winding motorcade outside the city gate and said softly, "Father, this is not a piece of paper, it is the scale in the hearts of the people."

In the School of Physics, Zhu Youwei handed the last page of the draft of "Number Usage Rules" to Chen Han. Outside the window, the laughter of the craftsmen fighting for the "Simplified Logarithmic Table" drifted in with the wind. She suddenly remembered something and turned around to ask, "Do you think that this voucher can really support three and a half craftsmen if it is circulated once?"

Chen Han put down his pen, took her hand, and wrote the word "七" on his palm. "If you count their wives, children, and elders, there may be more than that." He laughed softly, "But some people may think that even half a person is too many--"

Before he finished speaking, Li Zhen rushed in again: "Sir! The young master of the Xu family escaped overnight, but was intercepted by the Jinyiwei at the dock. He was holding our gear number book in his arms!"

Zhu Youwei burst out laughing. She looked out the window at the gradually brightening sky, the morning light was spreading over the thousands of roofs of Jinling City.

Chen Han and Zhu Youwei walked side by side on the long street, holding her hand as they walked into the crowd.

In the crowd, there was a widow from Northern Xinjiang clutching the coupons she had just received, discussing with her companions about buying a spinning wheel together;

There were also cloth merchants from Songjiang who squatted in front of the frame, secretly tracing the gear structure, but were dazzled by the dark-patterned anti-counterfeiting copper nails.

In the busiest place, two little girls with buns on their heads were folding small boats out of discarded paper coupons. As the paper boats drifted away, a childish nursery rhyme floated in the wind: "Exchange coupons for new plows, my sister weaves cloth for winter clothes..."

Turning the corner, the lights suddenly dimmed. Zhu Youwei suddenly stopped and pointed at the old man curled up in the shadows at the end of the alley: "Isn't that the driver of Zheng Zhushi's family in the Ministry of Revenue?"

Chen Han squinted his eyes and looked over. The old man was holding a bundle tightly in his arms, and the exposed corner of the paper was the special blue-grained paper made by Tongzhou Paper Mill.

Seeing the two approaching, the old man kowtowed in panic: "My Lord, please understand! My master said that these useless coupons should be burned. I think the paper is good, so I want to cut it up for my grandson to practice calligraphy..."

"Zheng Yan is really loyal." Zhu Youwei sneered and took out three ten-cent copper coins from her purse. "Old man, I'll buy these waste notes. Tomorrow you go to the Physics Institute to get a new piece of paper - just say it's a reward from Lord Chen."

……

(End of this chapter)