Mr. Hao, however, remained calm. He knew Boss He very well. He seemed to be a rough and tough guy, but in fact he was rough and subtle, and it was not all about recklessness. His performance was just to express his dissatisfaction with the delay in progress. If it was said that he would give up his job, he would neither dare nor give up.
He didn't speak, he just took a sip of tea slowly and slowly tasted it in his mouth. This was the finest Yuqian Longjing tea, and the Australians still sent it from Hangzhou. Haha, your hands and eyes are really capable!
The middle-aged man sitting in the guest of honour's seat coughed slightly and said: "Everyone, the gangsters are so powerful now, and we are all in a dangerous situation, but we can still serve our country loyally and live up to the imperial court's grace. It is indeed a blessing." I am a loyal friend of the Ming Dynasty. I would like to offer you a cup of tea instead of wine." After saying this, he held the cup in greeting and drank a cup first.
Mr. Hao Erye did not introduce the identity of this person in detail before. He only told everyone that his surname was Li and that he was sent to Guangzhou by "Shi Weng". It represents the imperial court.
Therefore, everyone agreed with his statement - after all, Shi Weng was their big benefactor and represented the imperial court. Especially the craftsmen sent from all walks of life, their entire family is in the hands of Shi Weng, how can they dare to make mistakes.
Hao Fang said: "Since the Yongtai Temple meeting, things have made some progress. Several craftsmen..." He looked at the few people sitting with him. They all bowed, "I have tried many methods. Now I have come up with a new method. It's just that this thing is heavy, so I need to talk to everyone." After that, he glanced at Mr. Li and Mr. He again.
"Don't look at me, I just want to help you use the money, but you have to make good use of the money. Now even the country people can't be deceived..." Boss He waved his hand.
"Of course." Mr. Hao seemed to have a plan in mind. He turned to an old man and said, "Master Li, please."
This "Master Li" is exactly the "Fan Li" engraving craftsman from the Baoqian Bureau of the Ministry of Industry who specializes in "mother money". His beard and hair have all turned white, but his spirit is very strong. At this moment, there were no more polite words. He cupped his hands and said, "I'll just introduce you to the young man's presumption and say a few words."
"...Since Xiao Lao took over this job, he studied for a long time with Master Qiu under Mr. Hao, and managed to mint some silver coins. However, the work he did was hard to describe. To be honest, Xiao Lao I originally thought that this errand was a contract, but I never thought, but I will live and learn until I am old. This thief has taught me a solid lesson!"
After saying that, he shook his head. Everyone looked anxious, but Hao Fang knew that this was just the old man playing hard to get. The previous step was just foreshadowing, otherwise how could he show his ability?
He started with the same approach as Master Qiu, making the mold first. When it comes to craftsmanship, Master Qiu cannot compare with him, not to mention that he also has many "secret techniques" passed down from his ancestors. Therefore, he not only made a vivid model of the "Australian Silver Dollar", but also specially made a hollow model for sandwiching the lead core, so that he could cast a fake silver dollar with lead in one go.
The trial casting began, using copper. Even if the "copper dollar" that came out could not be said to be lifelike, at least it was more than 90% similar in various details. The only problem was that the fine lines of the silver dollar could not be cast.
"...The fine lines cannot be cast, so I discussed the method with the live insect Zhao. Mr. Zhao said it wouldn't matter. The texture of silver is very soft. He can make a special tool to press the fine lines, although it can't be done. They are exactly the same, and there is absolutely no problem at first glance.”
Unexpectedly, as soon as the silver was used, something went wrong with this carefully crafted mold. The special characteristics of silver casting: lines and bubbles and voids cannot be compensated for by any amount of ingenious and superb craftsmanship. When compared with the Australian silver dollar, the made silver coins are immediately fake.
"Master Qiu also told me that this Australian didn't know what technique he used to cast the silver dollar without any silver lines or pores. Even if he directly melted the Australian silver dollar and cast it, it would be the same."
After that, Fan Li and others tinkered with various formulas, but they still couldn't make the texture of Australian silver dollars. Until one day, "I saw this!" Li Fugui took out a piece of silver from his waist and said, "Please take a look."
Hao Fang and others knew what it was. The only ones who didn't know were "Master Li" and Boss He. Master Li took it and looked at it. It was an ordinary twelve-liang spindle with a stamp on it: Sanjiang Mao. He looked at it carefully, weighed it again, and said, "It's just a piece of silver, what's the difference?"
Boss He took it, took a look at it, weighed it, and asked, "Is it fake silver?"
"Yes, it's fake silver." Li Fugui nodded, "This is medicinal silver!"
"It's Taoist Priest Wu..." Mr. Li asked in a low voice.
"Yes, that's right." Hao Fang nodded, "It's exactly what Taoist Master Wu was practicing."
"But when he was trapped, didn't even the cauldron and the silver fall into the hands of the thieves?"
"It's just a part of it, most of it has been shipped out. His disciples also know his method of refining medicinal silver. They have already tried some of it."
Boss He's thoughts turned quickly and he immediately understood: "You mean, prepare to distribute a large amount of medicinal silver?"
Li Fugui shook his head as if to show off: "No, no. Medicine silver is still a silver ingot. If you want to use it in the city, you can only give it to private money dealers to exchange it - these silver bastards are used to seeing silver, medicine silver No matter how well you do it, it’s not real silver after all, and it won’t take long for them to figure it out. I’ve thought about it: use medicinal silver to make silver coins!”
At this time, even Mr. Li's eyes widened: "Use medicinal silver?"
Real silver cannot replicate the Australian silver dollar, so how can we use fake silver?
Li Fugui said calmly: "Everyone, although this medicinal silver is called 'silver', it is actually copper. When it comes to the ability to make money from copper, I will forgive you for being arrogant. I probably can't find anyone who is more proficient than me. There are people..."
As he said this, he took out a few silver coins from his waist and said, "This is my new work. You can take a look."
Everyone picked up the silver coin and took turns to look at it. They were amazed. When it came into Hao Fang's hand, he was surprised. This silver dollar is 70% similar to the Australian dollar!
"How was this done?" Mr. Hao asked.
"It's made like copper coins." Fan Li said, "It's just that this money Fan has used all my life's skills! It's also thanks to the living insect Zhao. If it weren't for his carving work, Xiao Lao would definitely make it. There is no way to produce such a detailed wax model.”
Because it is cast in copper, the original annoying lines and pores are gone, and the size control of the cast "copper yuan" is much better than that of silver. It is then polished and polished by coin craftsmen. Look carefully at the pattern on it. Although it is not as delicate and delicate as the Australian dollar, it can still be imitated very well. The only flaw is the piping serrations on the silver coins. Although they are made, they are obviously different in size.
Compared with the imitation silver coins in the past, only a few hand-engraved silver coins by engraving masters can compare with them.
"So, we can cast in large quantities!" Hao Fang almost shouted at this moment.
"Not bad!" Li Fugui nodded proudly, "If Yao Yin can keep up, it won't be a problem to mint a thousand coins a month."
"No, no, what's the use of a thousand coins a month." Boss He also became excited, "Even ten thousand coins a month is just stuff between the teeth, hahaha..."
Mr. Li was not as happy as he was. He turned the fake silver dollar over and over in his hand, and then took out an Australian silver dollar to compare and examine. Jiujiu Fang said: "The appearance is indeed very similar, but if you look closely, you still can't stand it - the weight you get is also different."
"We can make the weight a little thicker. It doesn't matter if it doesn't look like it." Zhao Zhao, a living insect, picked up a silver coin and fiddled with it, "Hey, let's just talk about the antiques in this world, including those from the Han and Tang Dynasties. There are also those from the Song and Yuan Dynasties... In fact, how can there be so many old objects in the world? How many of them can be obtained by stealing and digging up graves? Most of them are fake antiques. New things can be made old by putting a layer of coating on them. Man. The same goes for this silver dollar. Aren’t Australians claiming that one of the benefits of silver dollars is that they don’t need to look at the color and weigh it like silver ingots? In this case, we only need to make it roughly the same, with about the same weight, and then make it old on the outside. That's it. When things are old, people don't pay too much attention to details, and silver is soft and will wear out over time." After that, he took out two more silver dollars from his pocket.
"One is an old counterfeit coin that I made, and the other is an old genuine coin. Let's take a look."
Everyone took turns to check, and sure enough, the difference between the two was even smaller, and everyone was amazed.
Hao Fang said: "Master Zhao is right. It is indeed true!" He thought for a while and said, "I heard from Boss He that in many places in Guangdong and Guangxi, the Australians have just appointed county magistrates, and the silver dollar is not used much. There are even fewer people. We can scatter these silver coins everywhere and give them away."
"Can you afford such a large amount of medicine and silver?" Mr. Li was a little worried.
"Please take it easy, sir." Hao Fang said, "We are all prepared. To be honest, sir, we have also made two preparations. If the Australian silver dollar cannot be made, the silver ingots originally intended to be cast into medicinal silver will be moved to a remote place. Let's go out. Now it seems like it's unnecessary."
Hao Fang did not say how he planned to use it. The purpose of casting fake silver dollars and counterfeit treasure banknotes is to make profits and disrupt the finances of the thieves. Secondly, they also have other uses. However, only Shi Weng and "Mr. Four" know about this "other", and the other "tool men" here are not clearly.
This matter is not only risky, but also very costly. Therefore, Shi Weng instructed him that even if the fake silver coins could not be made, the medicinal silver should be refined more.
"The treasure banknote matter has now made progress." Hao Fang smiled and said, "Mr. Lin, you are familiar with this matter, so it is up to you."
The tribute paper forest smiled slightly, cupped his hands and said: "Everyone, this matter of counterfeiting the Song Dynasty treasure banknotes has now come to an end. However, it will take about a year and a half to see results. If this matter can be achieved, it will be more fake than this. The silver dollar can even make the thieves sleepless and foodless, it is a trick to draw out the firepower!"
(End of chapter)
