Winter days darkened quickly, so the village's dinner was relatively early, starting at four thirty-eight in the afternoon.
All the food from lunch had been devoured, and the evening meal consisted of entirely new dishes. While not as abundant as lunch, it still offered delicacies that the villagers rarely got to taste.
Su Muqing, still preoccupied with the matter of currency, took the opportunity during dinner to discuss details with Lu Yuzhi in hushed tones. Seeing her so invested, Lu Yuzhi urged everyone to eat faster so they could return sooner.
By five thirty in the afternoon, the group had finished their meal and prepared to depart from Zhengyi Village back to the city. The bride-to-be, Su Cuiping, would also be accompanying them.
Originally, Madam Wang had wanted Su Cuiping to stay behind. With her wedding only a few days away, it was customary for her to personally create one or two pieces of needlework, even if it was just embroidering a handkerchief as part of her dowry.
However, Leng Kui doted on Su Cuiping and expressed that he didn't care about such superficial matters. Su Muqing also chimed in, offering to help prepare those items and assuring Madam Wang not to worry, as she only needed to arrange the banquet for the wedding day.
After saying their goodbyes, they exchanged greetings with the villagers, and then the group hurriedly departed in their vehicles.
Upon returning to the City Lord's Mansion, Su Muqing and Lu Yuzhi immediately entered the spatial realm, beginning their search for suitable zodiac animal patterns. Once eleven patterns were gathered, the two discussed what to name the paper currency.
After some deliberation, they unanimously decided to use the four characters "Huaxia Nation Treasury Officially Minted" for simplicity and clarity.
With the patterns and names decided, they began the layout, including the color for each denomination, the placement of the zodiac animals, and what kind of patterns to add to the remaining blank spaces on the banknotes.
It took several hours to finalize the initial layout of the banknotes.
First, regarding the general distribution of patterns, all denominations of banknotes would have the words "Huaxia Nation Treasury Officially Minted" printed in the center at the top of the front side. The back side would feature a miniature map of the entire Huaxia City district.
Then, for banknotes of ten wen or less (including ten wen), the length would be ten centimeters and the width five centimeters. For banknotes from twenty wen to one hundred wen (including one hundred wen), the length would increase by one centimeter and the width by half a centimeter. This progression continued, with denominations from two hundred wen to one thousand wen having a length of twelve centimeters and a width of six centimeters.
The front of the banknotes would display the denomination on the left, for example, "Yi Wen," the chosen rat pattern in the center, and the character "Shu" (rat) on the right. The layout for the corresponding denominations and zodiac animals followed the same order.
After they had prepared the template for the one-wen denomination banknote, Su Muqing began searching the spatial market for suitable paper. It couldn't be too stiff or too soft, and its feel should be different from papers already available on the market.
After a long search, Su Muqing finally found a relatively satisfactory option. Although it couldn't quite match the quality of banknotes from her previous life, overall, the paper's smoothness, toughness, and fold resistance were passable. At least, it could guarantee usage for a considerable period without easy damage.
Once the suitable paper was found, Su Muqing started calibrating the ink for each denomination, which was a crucial step. Firstly, the ink must not fade when wet, and secondly, the printed patterns needed to be clear.
Finally, Su Muqing selected a color-shifting ink for the trademark. This ink produced patterns with a shimmering metallic luster. Under natural light, as the viewer's perspective changed, it would exhibit two or three different colors, with noticeable chromatic shifts. Although this ink had slightly weaker anti-counterfeiting effects, it was more than sufficient for this era.
With the paper, ink, and templates all prepared, the next step was the printing machine. Ideally, the machine should be able to replicate the patterns on the templates with one-to-one accuracy.
Time passed by second by second. The two had rushed into the spatial realm upon returning to the city. By the time they emerged with the printed one-wen banknotes, it was nearly nine in the evening outside.
This meant they had been busy in the spatial realm for over ten hours to complete this version. When they came out, the others were still waiting in the main room.
Lu Yuzhi placed the cut and bundled banknotes on the table. "These are the printed one-wen rat coins. Take a look and see how they turn out."
Leng Kui picked up a stack of banknotes and examined them closely, then weighed them in his hand. "How many sheets are in this stack?"
"A stack is one hundred sheets, which makes one hundred wen."
"They feel quite light. And you know, the patterns are printed quite nicely. I think the rat doesn't look as scary anymore. And look, the characters on both sides can change color."
Leng Kui, as if discovering something new, kept shaking the banknote in his hand. The others nearby, hearing him mention the color-changing ability, followed his lead and examined the color-changing function from different angles.
"It's real! From this angle, it's blue, and when tilted, it turns red, and from the side, you can even see gold."
"This is truly miraculous. The banknotes are printed so beautifully, who would bear to spend them?"
"If everyone thinks it's acceptable, I'll bring out the printing machines and hand them over to you for printing. Lu Ge and I still need to make templates for other denominations, aiming to finish all the different denominations tonight. Tomorrow morning, everyone will disperse to the various resettlement points to notify them about currency exchange," Su Muqing said, and then took out the prepared machines, placing them in a vacant large room.
Two printing machines and two cutting machines, with one person printing and another flipping the printed single-sided sheets, and one person aligning and another cutting for the cutting machines. Each machine required at least two operators. Leng Ren and his group had ten people, perfectly dividing them into two teams. The remaining two, along with Su Cuiping and Lin Rongrong, would bundle the cut banknotes into stacks of one hundred.
Leng Nuo shook a stack of banknotes, listening to the crisp sound. "Miss Su, what if the common people don't believe this paper can be used as money and are unwilling to exchange for it?"
Lu Yuzhi put the printed banknotes into his bag and said, "That's easy to handle. Currently, besides bartering and private sales, all goods sold to the public are managed and provided by the City Lord's Mansion. Starting tomorrow, you will go to each resettlement point one by one to notify them. Also, inform every shop. From tomorrow onwards, all goods supplied by the City Lord's Mansion must be purchased with the new Huaxia City currency, otherwise, they will not be sold."
"Then won't they think we're trying to cheat them out of their money? I think some people will definitely worry about that."
"Cheat them out of what money? The cost of my one-wen banknote is much higher than that of one-wen copper coin. Besides, I'm letting them exchange copper coins for it, not forcing them to exchange gold and silver. If all else fails, I'll run a promotion: for the first three days, those who actively exchange will receive one wen bonus for every ten wen exchanged. After three days, the promotion will be canceled, and the entire city will be notified that starting seven days from now, no shops in Huaxia City will accept copper coins. Those who wish to remain in Huaxia City will definitely come to exchange."
Su Muqing was now a little regretful. If she had known, she would have used coins or simply modified the copper coin imprints. The cost of banknotes was truly not low. If people still questioned it as an attempt to cheat them, she would be furious!
"Our own people certainly know about the high cost, but I'm worried about those who don't, and they might think we are forcing them. At that time, those who already have assets within the Great Yu territory might leave because they are unwilling to exchange for banknotes."
"I don't think so. Great Yu just experienced a drought and is now facing a snow disaster. Various prefectural cities have suffered disasters of varying degrees. The common people are fleeing their homes to seek survival elsewhere. Who would want to return at this time? If they ultimately decide to leave, then settle the accommodation and food fees owed, and they can leave at any time. However, if they leave, they will not be allowed to enter again in the future!" Although Xu Fu had been in Huaxia City for several months, he had been closely monitoring all developments in Great Yu.
The weather in Great Yu this year was indeed very strange. Various prefectures and counties successively experienced drought. The most severely affected areas still hadn't received a single drop of rain. According to reports from those sent out, the areas with severe drought had cracked open with deep fissures, and many mountains had also exploded due to extreme dryness.
Who would have thought that before the drought even passed, a snow disaster would follow, and it was a nationwide snow disaster. The common people were living in misery and were forced to abandon their homes and seek a new life elsewhere.
"Let's print the banknotes first. Solutions are devised by people. Huaxia City has its rules. If those people want to come in, they have to abide by our rules. Anyone who is unwilling to comply, even if we keep them, they won't be truly loyal. I don't mind if such people leave," Su Muqing said, then gathered everyone. She and Lu Yuzhi each taught one group. First was the operation of the printing machine, then the placement of the templates, and how to flip the single-sided printed sheets.
During the teaching process, they repeatedly emphasized that when printing the other side of the banknotes, it was crucial to pay attention to the orientation and absolutely not place it incorrectly, otherwise, the printed banknotes would either overlap or be misprinted.
Within just over half an hour, the two groups of personnel had become proficient. Printing, flipping, positioning, and cutting. Initially, their speed was slow due to unfamiliarity, but gradually, their speed increased and increased, and soon a small pile of banknotes was printed.
While the people outside were working hard to print money, Su Muqing and Lu Yuzhi returned to the spatial realm to continue engraving the remaining templates. Color matching and pattern layout, each step had to be taken one by one.
Another five hours passed in the spatial realm. Lu Yuzhi went to the kitchen and made some food for the two of them. After eating, he pulled Su Muqing to a nearby lounge chair and forcefully made her lie down, urging her to rest for a while before continuing.
Su Muqing wasn't tired at first, but after lying down for a short while, she closed her eyes and fell into a deep sleep. Lu Yuzhi also lay down beside her, their heads close together as they drifted off into dreamland.
At three in the morning, the two emerged from the spatial realm again. By this time, a large quantity of one-wen banknotes had already been printed outside. They were neatly stacked in the corner of the large room by Leng Ren and the others.
Lu Yuzhi instructed them to stop printing the one-wen banknotes and then took out the ten freshly made templates and their corresponding inks, arranging them one by one.
The next denomination to be printed was two wen. Although no one spoke, Su Muqing could see their fatigue. Especially the two young women, who were yawning continuously while bundling money, with tears in their eyes.
It was already past three in the morning outside the spatial realm. If they continued printing outside, they might not print much even by dawn. Finally, Su Muqing waved her hand and brought everyone, along with the machines, into the spatial realm.
Once inside the spatial realm, she first prepared some late-night snacks for everyone. After eating, she asked the others to rest for a while, leaving only herself and Lu Yuzhi to do the printing.
Leng Ren and the others rested for two hours in the spatial realm before getting up to continue their work.
At eight in the morning outside the spatial realm, a group of over a dozen people emerged from the room, fully dressed. After tens of hours of continuous printing within the spatial realm, they had finally produced a large quantity of banknotes of various denominations.
The fourteen people were divided into seven groups of two. They would then proceed to their respective designated resettlement points to notify them about the currency exchange. After the notification, they were to remain at the resettlement points.
Lu Yuzhi and Su Muqing went near the Thousand Poisons Sect. Besides the currency exchange today, Su Muqing also needed to meticulously examine the disabled children to determine how many of them had no issues with their brainstems. If it was determined that their brain nerves could never recover, Su Muqing would not use the intelligent prosthetic eyes for the remaining children but would purchase ordinary prosthetic eyes instead.
Upon arriving at the healing station here, Lu Yuzhi went to attend to the banknote matter, while Su Muqing stayed behind to examine the children. Originally, over a hundred women and more than two hundred children had been rescued from the Thousand Poisons Sect's dungeon.
Su Muqing examined them one by one. By the time she finished, her legs were starting to tremble. Among the over two hundred children, the number of those with intellectual disabilities accounted for more than half. Although the remaining ones were not intellectually disabled, they were extremely timid.
After Su Muqing finished examining all the children, the parents waiting nearby eagerly rushed forward, surrounding her.
"City Lord, can my daughter's face be treated?"
"City Lord, and my son..."
"City Lord, my family also has one..."
Holding their respective children, they desperately pushed them towards Su Muqing.
Su Muqing raised her hand to stop the clamoring inquiries. "Everyone, please don't be anxious. I came here specifically to examine them. I have news for you all: after my examination, the wounds on their faces can be repaired, although they might not look as natural as the original. Furthermore, facial repair surgery can only be performed after they grow up, otherwise, it may lead to asymmetrical facial sizes."