When making banknotes, engraving the master plate is the most important thing. It is time-consuming and labor-intensive, and there is no room for any flaws.
Five craftsmen came out, one was an old man in his sixties, and the other four were all over forty.
Fei Zhen introduced: "This elder's name is Song Shi. He once carved master plates of treasure banknotes in the Yuan Dynasty. He has rich experience. Although he is old, his hands are still steady. This is Yu Qiu, the chief engraver of the Ministry of Industry. The master craftsmen of Zhu Xijia, the Master of Ceremonies, Lin Shouning, and Ding Zhong are skilled craftsmen who have handled hundreds of engravings, and are good at relief and shadow carving..."
Gu Zhengchen remembered them one by one and let the other craftsmen do their own business. He brought Song Shi, Ding Qiu and others into the room, and arranged for Zhang Pei to guard outside the door.
Fei Zhen took out the copper plate from the box, placed it on the table, and took out the incomplete preliminary design of the treasure note.
Gu Zhengchen looked at the treasure banknotes, took out a magnifying glass, and said seriously: "Five people, for seven days, will take turns carving. Which carving has the fullest details, which carving has the highest completeness, has the lowest error rate, and which one will be the final one." A master engraver. You heard me clearly, I only need a master engraver. Whoever is selected will be rewarded with thirty coins!"
Fei Zhen looked at Gu Zhengchen in surprise.
Thirty guan?
You are boasting too much about Haikou. Do you know that the salary of your seventh-grade magistrate is only equivalent to more than forty guan of money a year? Whose permission did you give them 30 guan of money?
The emperor didn't say anything, and the Ministry of Industry didn't say anything either.
Song Shi, Ding Qiu and others looked at Gu Zhengchen in surprise, and Zhu Xijia asked eagerly: "Seriously?"
Gu Zhengchen said solemnly: "I always mean what I say, but I only need one person to show your ability!"
"no problem!"
Song Shi, Ding Qiu and others spoke in unison.
Gu Zhengchen pointed to the magnifying glass: "This is the tool I prepared for you, which can assist in micro-carving more details."
Song Shi and others picked up the magnifying glass and looked at it, and immediately exclaimed.
Even Fei Zhen was shocked by such a magical scene. With this magnification tool, he will be more comfortable handling details!
Ding Qiu looked at the treasure note and asked: "This treasure note has not been finalized yet. It does not have an avatar yet. I heard from Fei Tiju that more content needs to be added to it. I wonder when it will be finalized?"
"Within seven days."
Gu Zhengchen knew that the design of treasure banknotes was a complicated process that required coordination with the household department and the requirements of Lao Zhu. Fine-tuning details was inevitable and could not be completed in too short a time.
"You concentrate on engraving. You will use the magnifying glass for twelve hours each. After seven days of setting the edition, the best craftsmen will be responsible for engraving the first edition of the Ming Dynasty treasure banknotes!"
Gu Zhengchen gave instructions and left the Baochao Office. Before he entered the house, he met the chamberlain who was delivering the message and hurriedly entered the palace.
Qianqing Palace.
Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Gu Zhengchen who was saluting, and said with a smile to Queen Ma beside him: "This guy has been busy all afternoon. He went to Liulichang to prepare some good things, but he didn't deliver them to us."
Empress Ma arranged for the maid to prepare dinner, and signaled Zhu Biao to pull Gu Zhengchen up: "Whether he delivers it or not, it belongs to His Majesty."
Zhu Biao stretched out his hand to ask for it: "What about something that can be enlarged?"
Gu Zhengchen was very depressed. The magnifying glass had been out for less than an hour, and everyone in your family knew who leaked the secret. Was it the guy from Liulichang or who else?
Oh, Li Min Li Shangshu.
Your sister Li Min, you can’t have a sense of confidentiality...
Zhu Biao was still there and said: "Li Shangshu was amazed. He also said that with this kind of object, the production of treasure banknotes will be very detailed, and it will be even more difficult to forge treasure banknotes."
The maid brought water to Gu Zhengchen, and Gu Zhengchen cleaned his hands.
Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and said: "The queen said that I haven't seen you for a while. You finally returned to Jinling and you are busy with important matters related to the country, so we specially arranged this table of wine and food for you."
Gu Zhengchen quickly thanked Queen Ma.
Empress Ma was very gentle and filled Zhu Yuanzhang's glass of wine: "Your Majesty is worried about the lack of talents. When he met such a good young talent like you, he wished he could divide you into several people. You are also the county magistrate and the Jurong guard. Now you have to take responsibility." My dear, if a meal of wine and food can relieve your fatigue, it’s worth it. I know you like fish, so I specially prepared a plump seabass for you to try."
Gu Zhengchen was a little moved. Looking at Queen Ma who gave him a large piece of fish, he knew that in her heart, she probably did not treat him as an ordinary official, but more like a nephew.
Several people talked and moved their chopsticks.
Gu Zhengchen raised his wine glass and said a few words of congratulations, which made Zhu Yuanzhang and Empress Ma smile, and Zhu Biao also had a happy face.
Zhu Yuanzhang was in a good mood. He seemed to have thought of something and suddenly said: "You previously proposed to print my portrait on the treasure banknotes. The prince, the Ministry of Revenue, the Secretary of the Central Committee, etc. all expressed their appreciation and thought that this move would be beneficial to the court. However, I thought about it. It just doesn’t feel right.”
"What's wrong?"
Gu Zhengchen was a little confused.
Zhu Yuanzhang patted his belly and said with a smile: "Didn't you say that we should go deep into the people, come from the people, and go to the people? We are also from commoners, so naturally we can't avoid making secret visits to the people. Many officials in the court will deceive the superiors and conceal the truth. , report good news but not bad news, if we completely listen to them, I am afraid our country will not be able to sit still."
"If everyone in the world knows what we look like, and we serve in the wild one day, won't the people recognize it? If corrupt officials hear about it, why don't they restrain themselves immediately? To observe the people's actual situation and listen to the people's sufferings, we still need to do it secretly. Besides, if the people come out, Wouldn't it be a bad thing if two similar people defraud the place and do evil?"
Gu Zhengchen looked at Zhu Yuanzhang and didn't understand his concerns.
You are the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty. In the past few years, Hu Weiyong and Zhongshu have shared the work with you. In a few years, you may not like the Prime Minister and will be deposed. By then, all the affairs of the world will be piled on your desk. There are hundreds of things to deal with in a day, and you can't finish them from dawn to dark. If you still want to incognito, how many times can you do it in incognito...
Besides, you can't add anything to your face, such as adding a mole, making your beard longer, restraining your scary majesty, wearing patchwork clothes, no one will call you emperor when they see you, they will just think that You just look alike.
As for worrying about being counterfeited, there is no reason. Even if you look exactly like you, you won't be able to deceive many people in the local prefectures and counties. Being an official is not only based on appearance, but also requires seals, badges, and identity verification. This is what the so-called verification of identity means. There is nothing, just trying to deceive people based on their faces. That is the skill of some young people in later generations. You, Lao Zhu, just forget about it.
Gu Zhengchen spent a lot of words, and Empress Ma and Zhu Biao followed suit to dispel Zhu Yuanzhang's concerns.
Zhu Yuanzhang said with emotion: "If it works, it's up to you. We also plan to change the portrait. I heard that there is a story among the people about the Pig Dragon family. The officials of the Qintian Prison said that if the face shape is changed to a crescent shape and the forehead is high, Adding pockmarks to your face will give you the aura of a dragon and an elephant, do you really think this is inappropriate?"
Gu Zhengchen's face was very ugly, and he quickly said: "Well, His Majesty has a natural dragon spirit, so why do you need the words of a pig and a dragon family? Besides, this matter is related to the faith of all people. When the time comes, will the people and sergeants believe in His Majesty or not?" There is nothing wrong with a person who is worth a lot of money!"
Although Lao Zhu's forehead is slightly protruding and his chin is slightly elongated, he is far from as ugly as in the portraits circulated in later generations. He does not have such a weird crescent-shaped face, nor does he have a pockmarked face.
Gu Zhengchen didn't know what was going on with the circulating portrait of Lao Zhu. Maybe it was because Lao Zhu killed too many people and was vilified. Maybe it was done by those people from the Qing Dynasty. After all, they even tampered with history and changed Lao Zhu. The portrait is not impossible. Of course, it is hard to say whether Lao Zhu himself respected the "Pig and Dragon Family" and did so deliberately.
Now that the portrait has been determined, it is necessary to find a court painter. Taking into account the details of the engraving and observing the effect, Zhu Yuanzhang finally chose a photo in Gun uniform to reflect the court etiquette and show the emperor's style.
The portrait presented by the painter was drawn with a brush, not a sketch. Although many details existed and were lifelike, it was a large painting after all. Gu Zhengchen borrowed the help of a palace painter, taught him how to use pencils, and made reductions. Finally, after five days, Finally, the outline of a small avatar was successfully achieved.
The entire avatar is meticulously detailed. Whether it is the uniform on the body, the robe on the top of the head, or the beads, they are all clearly depicted. As for Zhu Yuanzhang's appearance, it is even more clear, and even his eyes can be seen.
During this period, the Baobao Proposal Department, the Ministry of Revenue, and the Zhongshu Ministry of Education had several discussions to finalize the final details of the Baobao. The Ministry of Accounts insisted on adding "forged beheading, how much reward will be given for reporting"? , Lao Zhu also supported it, thinking that it could act as a deterrent. Gu Zhengchen had no choice but to arrange to go in. The method was micro-carving, which required careful observation with the naked eye to see clearly.
After intensive work, the Ming Dynasty banknotes were finally finalized:
The Ming Dynasty treasure banknotes are mainly yellow in color, reflecting the royal dignity and corresponding to the emperor.
The five-hundred-liter Ming Dynasty treasure note is mainly purple, with purple energy coming from the east, corresponding to the royal family members.
Three hundred texts, mainly cyan. Blue is gentle and upright, which is most compatible with the golden mean of scholar-bureaucrats, and corresponds to the ministers and officials.
Two hundred Wenbao banknotes are mainly red. The south belongs to fire and is mainly red, symbolizing that the Ming Dynasty was founded in the south.
One hundred Wenbao banknotes, mainly green. Green is not a positive color, but a base color, and the corresponding subject is naturally everyone except the royal family and scholar-bureaucrats.
The fifth-class design is one less than the historical version, which is the "four hundred text" edition.
Gu Zhengchen's reason is very good. Four hundred coins can be made by stacking two two hundred coins or one hundred coins and three hundred coins. An extra design is not only wasteful, but also has too many layouts. Easy to circulate.
After finalizing the details of the treasure banknote, we turned to the engraving stage.
Engraving is the most difficult and critical link, but Gu Zhengchen believes that the difficulty of engraving alone cannot completely prevent forgery. No matter what, a little watermark must be added...
