The two people happily eating melon seeds were suddenly called out. Su Muqing glanced at Lu Yuzhi and said, "No rush, no rush. I'm still young. Let's talk about it in a few years! Moreover, Huaxia City is currently in a critical period of construction. Let's wait until the situation stabilizes before considering other matters!" wap.kanshuwu.net
Upon hearing Su Muqing's words, Xu Fu and Zhou Shi became anxious. Her age was indeed young, and they could wait, but Lu Yuzhi had long passed the suitable age for marriage.
"Still a few more years? But Young Master is not young anymore, Miss Su..."
Before Xu Fu could finish speaking, Lu Yuzhi interrupted, "Uncle Xu, there's no need to say more. Everything regarding this matter will be according to Muqing's arrangements. Besides, I still have unfinished business, and now is indeed not the right time to discuss this."
Lu Yuzhi understood Su Muqing's meaning. Her parents' deep-seated hatred had yet to be avenged, and he certainly wouldn't consider this matter in the short term.
Seeing that both parties had reached an agreement, no one else asked. Even though Xu Fu and Zhou Shi were anxious, obeying their master's command was deeply ingrained in them, so they could only worry in their hearts.
The lunch ended amidst lively chatter and excitement. After eating, everyone accompanied each other to Su Minghui's home to discuss the details of Su Cuiping and Leng Kui's wedding.
The Chen family had intended to find Su Minghui after the meal to ask about it, but seeing that the group was together the entire time, they dared not ask in front of such important figures and could only return home dejectedly.
Upon arriving at Su Minghui's house, everyone sat together, nibbling on melon seeds and sipping tea, actively expressing their opinions, and soon the matter was largely discussed.
The general plan was that on the second day of the Lunar New Year, Xu Fu and Zhou Shi would formally visit Su Minghui's home as elders to present the betrothal gifts. Then, on the fifth day of the Lunar New Year, the prepared betrothal gifts would be moved to Zhengyi Village. On the eighth day, during the wedding, they would be moved to the couple's new home along with the dowry.
Considering that Leng Kui did not have a house in Zhengyi Village, it would be more suitable to hold the wedding banquet in the city. However, Su Minghui had already made it known that the new son-in-law would treat the villagers to a wedding feast. A sudden change would surely be unfavorable.
Therefore, Su Muqing proposed that on the sixth day, Su Minghui could hold a send-off banquet for Su Cuiping in the village. This way, Leng Kui's promise would be fulfilled, and the banquet in the city on the eighth day would not be affected.
On the day of the wedding, the bride, along with the betrothal gifts and dowry, would depart from Zhengyi Village, parade through Huaxia City, and scatter wedding candies and money along the way, allowing others to share in the joy!
Thinking of this, Su Muqing suddenly remembered something. Every time she bought things from the spatial mall, she used silver, so she had almost forgotten about small change. She knew that the copper coins circulating among the people were still the currency of the Great Yu Dynasty.
Since it had been decided to build their own city, it would eventually become a country in itself. In that case, the country must have its own currency.
Gold and silver items could be gradually remelted later, but the matter of copper coins was urgent. It wouldn't do for the citizens of Huaxia Kingdom to still be using the currency of the Great Yu Kingdom.
Now that Su Cuiping and Leng Kui's wedding was almost finalized, only preparations were needed. Thus, in the following time, Su Muqing began to discuss the circulating currency of Huaxia City with others.
Everyone present took out some money from their bodies. First, Su Minghui took out a few copper coins from his money pouch. Then, Xu Fu produced several silver notes, and finally, Su Muqing placed gold and silver ingots on the table one by one.
These were the most common circulating currencies in the market of the Great Yu Dynasty. Su Muqing pointed at the pile of money on the table and asked everyone to think about the shortcomings of the existing currency and what different expectations they had for Huaxia City's new currency!
The people in the living room looked at each other, not knowing what to say. After all, none of them had ever thought that one day they would gather to discuss the shortcomings of money.
How could money have shortcomings? If it had any shortcomings, it would only be that people always felt they lacked money, right?
Lu Yuzhi picked up a copper coin and examined it carefully. It was the first time he had observed a copper coin so closely, as he had lived a life of luxury since birth.
Noble youths like him usually carried gold, silver, and silver notes when they went out. He had never used such small change.
After examining it, Lu Yuzhi picked up the remaining copper coins on the table and weighed them in his hand. "Although a copper coin appears light, one tael of silver is a thousand copper coins. I imagine the weight should not be insignificant!"
Su Minghui was the only one among the group who had handled a lot of copper coins. He recalled past events and nodded, saying, "Yes, when I was paying wages to others, I exchanged them at the currency exchange. Just one guan of coins (a thousand copper coins) weighed seven or eight catties."
"Don't even mention it! That time you carried a basket full of copper coins, you were targeted by those ruffians. If it weren't for Brother Mingyuan showing up in time to save your life, and then going to town to negotiate with the leader of that gang to quell the matter, not only would those copper coins have been lost, but you might have suffered losses along with them."
Upon hearing Su Minghui talk about paying wages, Wang Shi immediately recalled the incidents caused by those copper coins. Recalling them still made her feel lingering fear.
Hearing Wang Shi's words, Su Minghui's eyes immediately turned red. "Yes! Thanks to Brother Mingyuan, I have always remembered his kindness."
The couple's remembrance of Su Mingyuan made the atmosphere suddenly become a bit somber. Fearing that Su Muqing would also feel sad, Su Minghui quickly changed the subject, "Alright, alright, let's not talk about these things. Let's continue talking about the copper coins."
Wang Shi also realized she shouldn't have brought it up. She sighed and then said, "Alas! It would be great if small change could become lighter and more convenient to carry. That way, if any family had a few guan of money, it would be easier to store. After all, not every family can afford loose silver."
Su Muqing nodded in agreement. A thousand coins weighing seven or eight catties was indeed inconvenient. Why not just emulate modern circulating currency? "What do you think of using paper currency to replace copper coins? That way, it would be light and convenient to carry."
"Paper currency? Is it like silver notes?"
"Yes and no. It's smaller and more durable than silver notes. Both the paper and the ink are completely different from silver notes. And there's a very important point: with the paper currency I'm proposing, no one will be able to counterfeit it for at least a thousand years. I'll go find some to show you." After saying that, Su Muqing flashed into her space.
As she suddenly moved away, Su Cuiping, who was sitting close to her, stumbled and almost fell off her stool. Fortunately, Leng Kui, who was sitting nearby, reached out and pulled her, preventing her from falling.
Fortunately, everyone present knew of Su Muqing's ability to disappear and reappear. Otherwise, such a person vanishing and reappearing in broad daylight would be quite unsettling.
In just a few blinks of an eye, just as Su Cuiping was sitting down, Su Muqing emerged from her space with a large bag of things.
She opened the plastic bag in her hand and poured out the colorful training banknotes and imitation paper currency from the board game boxes.
"Here, it's roughly like this, but the paper used for actual banknotes is much better than what I've brought out. This is just for you to see the style. If you think it's feasible, we can then research what kind of patterns to use and how to change the text on them."
Others took the banknotes and examined them carefully. The material, the feel, and the picture quality made it clear why Su Muqing said no one could counterfeit them. The feel and thickness of all the paper on the table were even inferior to the silver notes they used.
Wang Shi carefully smoothed out the creases on the edges of the training banknote and then looked up at Su Muqing, asking, "Paper that feels so good... it must be worth a lot of money, right? How much silver should it be written for? Can ordinary people afford it?"
"The paper used for real banknotes is indeed not cheap, but precisely because it is so special, no one can counterfeit it. Later, we'll print some of each denomination, and then all the common people will be able to afford it, and it will be more convenient, won't it?" Su Muqing said confidently to everyone.
She had already learned about the historical progress of five thousand years. What she would use in this world was the essence researched by her predecessors, so how could there be any mistake?
She knew that in modern times, such banknotes were used, which were incredibly convenient. Although mobile payments became popular later, banknotes were still the only physical currency in circulation.
Since Su Muqing had brought out the items, they were naturally good. Lu Yuzhi rubbed the banknote in his hand and felt that this method was feasible. "Then how many wen are you planning to print?"
Su Muqing took out one banknote of each denomination from the training banknotes and game paper money and laid them out. "The smallest is one wen, then two wen, five wen, ten wen. Above that are twenty wen, fifty wen, one hundred wen, then two hundred wen, five hundred wen, and one thousand wen. One thousand wen is also one tael of silver. Different denominations will be distinguished by different colors and patterns, so it will be less prone to errors when people use them."
"With such fine denomination divisions, it sounds very convenient to use. I think it's feasible."
"I also think it's great. I can't wait to use this kind of money soon."
"I also agree. When will we officially start using our own money?"
Everyone agreed with Su Muqing's opinion and wished they could use it tomorrow.
Lu Yuzhi thought for a moment and proposed, "Then let's try modifying copper coins first to test the waters. Uncle Xu, please count how many silver notes of the Great Yu Dynasty you have left. When there's time later, we can go and exchange them all for gold and silver. I suggest we temporarily leave the gold and silver items in the hands of the people within Huaxia City as they are. Let's see how the paper currency is received. Those willing to exchange for paper currency can then have their gold and silver weighed to determine its face value."
Receiving everyone's approval, Su Muqing was also very happy. "Since you all think it's good, then we'll decide on this. What kind of patterns do you think should be printed on each type of currency to represent it?"
As Su Muqing finished speaking, everyone began to discuss their opinions. Some suggested using flowers and grass, while others suggested using cats and dogs.
At this moment, Leng Feng suddenly interjected, "Miss Su, why don't you just print yourself on it? After all, Huaxia City was created by you."
Who would have thought that his casual remark would receive unanimous agreement from everyone present? All eyes turned to Su Muqing.
Thinking of the beloved grandfather on banknotes in her previous life, Su Muqing's scalp began to tingle.
She resolutely and firmly rejected Leng Feng's suggestion and rolled her eyes at him!
She was far from worthy of being printed on banknotes!
Seeing Su Muqing's unnegotiable refusal, everyone started discussing enthusiastically again. Time flew by, and it was already past four in the afternoon, almost dinnertime.
Seeing that they had not reached a conclusion, it was finally the Heavenly Mystery Elder who had a flash of inspiration and thought of an excellent idea. "Since everyone can't decide, why don't we try using the twelve zodiac animals first? Those who are older may not be able to read, but they will definitely recognize their zodiac signs."
"Zodiac signs? Oh my! This is great, how could I have forgotten this?"
"It's still the old Daoist priest with so much knowledge who can think of this."
Lu Yuzhi also agreed with the Heavenly Mystery Elder's suggestion of zodiac signs. Seeing Su Muqing nod, he said, "Then let's decide to use zodiac signs for the patterns. Muqing just mentioned eleven different denominations. Zi (Rat), Chou (Ox), Yin (Tiger), Mao (Rabbit), Chen (Dragon), Si (Snake), Wu (Horse), Wei (Goat), Shen (Monkey), You (Rooster), Xu (Dog), Hai (Pig). Following this order of zodiac signs, excluding the Chen Dragon, there are exactly eleven. The dragon shape has always been exclusively used by royalty in the hearts of the common people. Even if you print it, they probably wouldn't dare to use it."
The Heavenly Mystery Elder stroked his beard and fully agreed with Lu Yuzhi's words. "I also think what young friend Lu said is very reasonable. In the hearts of many common people, the dragon shape is not only exclusively used by royalty but also their faith and worship. If its image is used on mundane objects like money, it is inevitable that some people will feel that this is blasphemy."
The matter of paper currency was basically concluded here. Finally, Su Muqing made the final decision. "Good, then it's decided. After dinner, we'll go back quickly. Brother Lu and I will find suitable zodiac patterns. Once they are typeset, we'll print a batch overnight. It seems everyone will have to work overtime tonight. I won't let you all work in vain; after the paper currency is printed, I'll give you triple wages."
"City Lord, we are all our own people. Why do we need wages for overtime? A hearty hot pot as a late-night snack would suffice." Leng Nuo licked his lips, remembering the spicy hot pot from the night before.
Hearing his wish, Su Muqing generously waved her hand and said, "No problem at all. After we succeed, let alone one meal, I'll let you eat it every day until you don't want to anymore!"