"Waiter, here's the money." At a small stall in the shade outside Chang 'an, a man who had just eaten a bowl of soaked noodles called for the waiter.
In fact, the shopkeeper and the waiter were making noodles with sorghum powder.
On the roadside, they chopped lentils to make sauce and cooked noodles for passersby.
Wheat noodles were not made because they were expensive and few people ate them.
He came over and stretched out his hand. "Four coins."
"Here's five coins. Give me one coin." The waiter handed over a five-coin coupon.
The waiter picked it up and looked at it. He took out a one-coin coupon from the linen pocket in front of him and handed it over.
The waiter accepted the coupon and the transaction was completed.
Today was July 15th, the Hungry Ghost Festival. It would be very lively at night.
It had only been six days since the Li Family Zhuangzi took out the coupon.
Coupons became popular in Chang 'an. When the Li Family Zhuangzi went out to buy things, they would all give coupons.
Some people wanted to exchange with copper coins and silk, but Li Yi refused.
If they exchanged coupons, they would directly use the coupon to buy things and enjoy the discount. Zhuangzi would be at a disadvantage.
However, Zhuangzi advertised in the newspaper that he wanted to buy a lot of things.
He gave a price for each item. Whether it was an individual or a merchant, they would be bought at the same price.
Fish, aged vinegar, millet, sorghum rice, grass for cows and horses, fresh vegetables, dried vegetables, beans, bean biscuits …
Generally, grains were sold in bulk. They bought a lot at one time.
For vegetables, the people planted them and brought them over one by one. The money they gave was not as good as if they sold it by themselves, but the demand was high.
The cucumbers were picked and transported over in a day. They were directly exchanged for coupons. They couldn't sell them by themselves.
At the same time, Zhuangzi collected mud for pottery again.
The kiln in Wugong County became the Li Family Zhuangzi's. As Li Yi said, the upper level was replaced, the middle level was given a warning, and the lower level was given a processing fee.
Several people from Zhuangzi were sent there to supervise and burn more pottery.
The other kilns were burning porcelain. They bought glaze from the Li Family Zhuangzi and then shipped it to various parts of the Tang dynasty.
Another person went to Chang 'an to buy glaze from Zhuangzi and brought it back to burn.
The kilns in Wugong County had always been burning pottery, mainly jars. They had accumulated a lot and began to trade with the commoners.
The commoners understood what he meant. After a while, the vegetables in the fields would be replaced with cabbages.
Now was the time to make salted vegetables. Otherwise, there would be no vegetables to eat in winter.
At the same time, he also bought vegetables to dry and soak in water to cook in winter.
In all kinds of transactions, the Li Family Zhuangzi had sold 50,000 taels worth of exchange coupons so far.
He only managed to collect about eight thousand taels in succession. The rest of the money was circulated outside.
No one thought of asking the Li Family Zhuangzi for the discount. They only thought that money was useful.
A thousand copper coins weighed six catties and four taels. Carrying a hundred coins with him was not light either.
Otherwise, the other party would try to lower the price if they accidentally dirtied the cloth.
Now, a thousand taels and a hundred ten taels worth of exchange coupons were in a pile. He took them and left.
"Dongzhu, are you still releasing coupons?" Song De was worried. There were already 50,000 taels, and there were still more than 40,000 taels outside.
"Yes, another 50,000 taels. There are so many people in the capital office. Who wouldn't have some money on them?"
Li Yi was not afraid. Zhuangzi could handle 100,000 taels of money outside.
Zhuangzi only sold the same things every day. He couldn't buy more even if he wanted to. Zhuangzi also didn't promise to buy anything with the coupons.
Li Yi was leisurely copying books.
Behind the Lantian County yamen, Zhangsun Xin held four coupons in his hand and found the craftsmen who had been working for half a month.
It had been one and a half months since June 1st. June was 29 days.
Zhangsun Xin paid 352 taels of money for this. If he didn't collect some of the money he gave out before, he wouldn't have been able to pay them.
He realized that the money that he had painstakingly 'saved' was almost gone by the time the Qiangong Step Bed was completed.
He had to think of a way. The best way was naturally to print money.
"Everyone, take a look. Can you make these coupons? I also want a set of my own. "Zhangsun Xin asked with a smile.
The sixteen craftsmen didn't gather in front of him. They looked up and shook their heads.
"Inspector Zhangsun, we are carpenters. The coupons are the work of paper makers and mold makers." The leader of the craftsmen gave an answer.
"Engraving and printing aren't carpenters' work?" Zhangsun Xin expressed his disbelief.
"It's not made of wood. The plates on the coupons are pressed with heavy materials. It requires copper and iron plates. After pressing, there will be slight bumps and dents."
The craftsmen shook their heads. He couldn't make it.
"There's no need for those bumps and dents. After a long time, the bumps and dents will disappear. It will just be a normal print."
Zhangsun Xin still didn't give up. He felt that craftsmen were amazing and omnipotent.
"No, it needs to be carved separately. Then, the plates need to be covered with different colored ink and printed one by one.
The patterns on it are thin. Unless the wood is good and hard enough, the bumps will break when pressed.
There's no ink either. When the paper is made, something is added inside and the two layers are combined into one. "
After the craftsmen finished speaking, they lowered their heads and started working. Their voices were very loud, indicating that they didn't want to speak anymore.
Zhangsun Xin took a deep breath and left with the coupons.
"Li Family Zhuangzi can actually print money. Doesn't anyone care?" Zhangsun Xin felt sad.
He just knew that there was such a good way to make money. If he printed it himself, there would be people willing to buy it.
"Is there no one who wants the money I draw?"
Zhangsun Xin looked at the coupons in his hands and muttered. He felt even more depressed.
He only wanted to make a copy of the coupons. He didn't plan to make money himself.
He knew that he didn't have the ability. The commoners wouldn't agree.
"The Thousand Works Step Bed can't be stopped. If there's not enough money … I can check the accounts and find the problem. I will ask them to give me money. If they don't, I won't let them do it."
Zhangsun Xin thought of those mining people. The stones were constantly being transported away. They were all money.
They agreed to pay taxes. In the end, they had accounts and didn't pay to the county government.
If he wanted to check the accounts, there was no excuse.
"I will write a letter and ask His Majesty and the Prime Ministers to agree to try to collect business tax in Lantian County."
Zhangsun Xin clenched his fists. He decided that he would push. Then it would be easy.
He strode back and walked on a sunny road that Li Yi had designed for him.
In the afternoon, he sent the written Prime Minister's letter away to prepare for the Hungry Ghost Festival in the evening.
It would be lively tonight. The commoners would come out and light lanterns at the river. They would go to the river to watch.
Li Family Zhuangzi was also ready at this time. There were beautiful lanterns made of bamboo to be placed in the river.
There were also those lotus lanterns that used lotus leaves as boats. They needed a small candle.
As for the migrant workers, Song De brought people to deliver a large number of small and thin candles to save on materials.
It would be enough if they could burn for a while on the lotus leaves.
"Brother Yi, what about the 25 people? They have been locked up for half a month. There is no one to receive them. Everything in the Honglu Temple is normal.
As soon as one of the twenty-five had spoken, the others had followed suit.
Including the location of the stronghold, how they received the order, and how they were arranged. "
Wang Xing came over. The captured people were still locked up. They were waiting, waiting for the people in the Honglu Temple to do something.
"It seems that those people have nothing to fear. They probably didn't leave behind any specific information. Are there any words when they are contacted?" Li Yi asked.
"Yes, but it's in regular script. I can't tell." Wang Xing was helpless.
"Let's wait. There's no hurry. Let's lock them up for another half a month. I'll think." Li Yi said after some consideration.
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