The matter of using gold and millet paper in silver notes has been decided, so what other anti-imitation methods can be used?

Taichang thought for a while and then asked, "Meng Hou, are there any special and difficult to imitate among the printed pigments?"

When the Minister of Works, Bi Maokang heard this, he hurriedly bowed: "Your Majesty, I don't know much about the configuration of this pigment. However, there are several old craftsmen in the capital who are specifically responsible for configuring the pigments used for the repair of the imperial palace and the imperial city. Many of the pigments they have configured are almost impossible for the people to configure, such as bright yellow, fresh purple, etc., which few people dare to use, so naturally no one will study how to configure them. There are some colors, the materials are more expensive, the formula is also unique, and it is rare among the people."

Really?

That's great!

Taichang asked with interest: "How many colors are there in this rare folk and unique formula?"

Bi Maokang made a rough estimate and then said carefully: "There should be more than ten kinds. I don't know which color the emperor wants to use. I will ask if there is any unique formula later."

More than ten kinds are enough!

Taichang said decisively: "Then choose nine colors with the most unique formulas. Don't care what color it is. As long as the formula is unique, it is impossible for folks to imitate it."

ah!

Nine kinds?

When Bi Maokang heard this, he couldn't help but feel confused. Can so many colors be used for printing silver notes?

Taichang then asked: "In terms of carving, is there any craftsman with unique skills?"

Bi Maokang said without thinking: "There are also some, such as dragons, phoenixes, etc. There are very few people among the people who dare to use it. Craftsmen of carving also have unique skills, and they are basically staying in the capital to work specifically for the imperial palace."

Indeed, anyone among the people dares to carve out all over their homes, so they just don’t want to get along.

Taichang thought about it again, then nodded slightly and said, "Then let it be, Meng Hou, tomorrow you will summon all these craftsmen with unique skills. I will discuss with them what the silver bill will be like. By the way, let those who can configure unique pigments bring them all over."

Can silver notes be copied these days?

Really possible.

Many craftsmen now have unique skills, which are basically passed down from generation to generation and cannot be learned by outsiders.

For example, those who make gold millet paper, those who make pigments for the palace, and those who carve ornaments for the palace, the unique skills of these people are concentrated on a silver note. It is basically unlikely that the folks who master unique skills will imitate them.

The next morning, Taichang visited the Wenhua Palace Conference Hall again.

However, the people who participated in the discussion this time were not yesterday's people. In addition to the prince and King Xin, only the father-in-law Wu Yangchun, the Minister of Works Bi Maokang, and the Minister of Revenue Bi Ziyan, the other officials were all experienced veterans.

When these people saw the emperor, they were all so nervous that they couldn't stand it. Not to mention letting them sit down, they were a little afraid to get up on the ground.

Seeing this, Taichang smiled helplessly and said, "I still want to see your skills. How can you show your skills if you don't sit down? Sit down and don't waste time."

After hearing this, a group of craftsmen sat down carefully.

Bi Maokang recruited nine old craftsmen who were equipped with pigments and nine old craftsmen who were good at carving, exactly 18.

As for how to show his skills, Taichang had already ordered people to prepare.

Nine sets of four treasures of study have been arranged in the middle of the large table, which are specially prepared for these craftsmen.

Seeing that these people were sitting down, Taichang raised his hand and said, "The paints you have all been put into the inkstone in front of you. Those who are good at carving, use these paints to draw paper on the things you are best at carving."

The nine old craftsmen naturally had already brought them with them.

Just kidding, the emperor asked them to be matched and brought them with him, so how could they dare to come empty-handed?

As for painting, those who are good at carving will definitely draw things they are good at carving. If they can't even draw them, they will definitely not be well-carved.

Soon, nine old craftsmen poured the prepared paint into the inkstone in front of them, while the other nine old craftsmen took off the finest fine brushwork, applied the paint, and quickly drew it on white paper.

The most common thing they carved in their lives was the things they were good at. They were naturally very fast when they drew them. In less than a quarter of an hour, nine people finished drawing them.

Taichang raised his hand and ordered Liu Shiyou to take the drawn things over and take them over and take a look. He couldn't help but nod and praised them continuously.

These people are really amazing. They paint all the dragons, phoenixes, auspicious clouds with exquisite paintings, and look like works of art.

If you print these with unique pigments on a silver note, you can still copy them from the people, that's a terrible thing.

Taichang said with satisfaction: "Well, just these patterns, auspicious clouds are the foundation, dragons and phoenixes are the auspiciousness, holy beasts are in the four directions, and strange flowers are blooming on both sides!"

So that's how it is!

Bi Maokang couldn't help but suddenly said: "Your Majesty, what do you mean is that these nine patterns are printed on a silver note, right?"

Taichang nodded repeatedly and said, "Yes, different patterns are painted with different colors and are printed on a silver note. If someone can imitate it, it would be a real ghost."

This method is indeed good, it’s a bit troublesome. A silver note plus the words on it requires ten templates to be engraved, and it has to be printed ten times!

If it is a normal thing, no one will do this. It would be considered too many to be able to print two or three colors.

Of course, printing silver notes is different. This is all about printing money. What should I be afraid of if I have a little trouble?

The next step is to determine the size of the silver note and the materials for the engraving template.

This size is a reference. At that time, the Daming Baochao was one foot long and six inches wide. However, Taichang felt it was a bit big, so he simply changed it to nine inches long and five inches wide.

This size is almost the same, and it is intimately in line with the meaning of the Supreme Lord of Nine Five. Who dares to imitate it? Kill without mercy!

As for the engraving template, Taichang still set it as pure copper.

Because the wooden template is not done, it is estimated that the fine lines will be blurred after printing for a month or two. At that time, the printed silver notes will be inconsistent, and the templates of Bailian Steel are too difficult to carve, so it is most suitable to use pure copper.

Next is the engraving template.

In order to prevent these people from being tempted to imitate silver notes, Taichang specially asked Luo Sigong to vacate eighteen yards in the densest streets of the Jinyiwei in Dashi Yongfang, behind the Jinyiwei Yamen, and let all the eighteen families move in.

They configure pigments and carved templates in the Imperial City Baochaosi Yamen every day, and without special circumstances, they are not allowed to leave the area where the Jinyiwei lives!

These craftsmen originally served the palace and had almost never left the capital in their lives. They had no objection to restrict them to a certain area.

Even after they moved into their new home, they were so excited.

Apart from merchants, farmers, industrial and commercial enterprises, the lowest status is craftsmen, but craftsmen have no merchants to make money, so even if they live in the capital for the rest of their lives, they cannot afford any good yards.

The yard that Jinyiwei vacated was much larger than the one they used to live in, and was much more beautiful. They were naturally very excited to live in.

Within ten days, they carved out the first set of templates, and nine special pigments and thick ink were prepared, so they could start printing silver notes when the golden millet paper was sent over.

When Taichang received the news, he took Bi Maokang and Bi Ziyan to the Baochao Office and asked them to try printing on mulberry paper.

It is really a bit troublesome to print the silver note. You need to fix the paper in a copper box, and then press the engraving template set of colors and colors. Each color is printed, and you have to make a lot of effort. Only when the paint is dry can you continue to print the next color. It takes at least half an hour to print a silver note!

Of course, it will be different if you print a lot. Just prepare more standard copper frames to cover a large table or even the whole room, and then one by one with a template to print it one by one, and then bring a fan to the back. After the engraving template is finished, the first one I printed at the beginning will definitely have already been dried, so that you won’t waste time.

Now that it’s a trial printing, there’s no need to worry about the efficiency, just print out the sample.

More than ten craftsmen worked hard for half an hour, and the first silver note was finally printed.

This silver note has exquisite patterns, bright colors, and is also exquisitely matched, and looks quite high-end, elegant and upscale.

The problem is that the words printed in thick ink are a bit cheaper!

No matter how Taichang looks at it, he feels that the black characters are a bit incompatible with the exquisite patterns of the entire silver note.

He looked carefully for a while and then asked, "Is there any way this black ink can be printed with a better appearance? What I mean, add something to make this black ink look unique."

This really has it.

An old craftsman with paints bowed carefully: "The emperor thinks the ink color is not good-looking, you can add some gold foil powder or silver foil powder to it, so that the printing will make the starry light and it will be particularly beautiful."

What a great idea!

These craftsmen are really amazing and can come up with a solution at will.

Taichang immediately asked with interest: "Do you have this gold foil powder and silver foil powder?"

The old craftsman shook his head and said, "Your Majesty, that thing is expensive and troublesome to make. There is no villain. Every time he used it, he went to the inner palace supervisor to collect it."

This is easy to deal with.

Taichang immediately said to Liu Shiyou behind him: "Go to the Inner Palace to get some gold foil powder and silver foil powder."

After a while, Liu Shiyou came over with two exquisite small porcelain bottles, one golden and the other silver, which was extremely beautiful.

Taichang weighed the two bottles in his hand, thought about it, and handed the small silver bottle to the craftsman, and then said solemnly: "Just print this one and see how much silver foil powder you need."

Hearing this, the craftsman quickly took the mold with the lettering, took another small plate, poured some thick ink, then took the silver bottle and carefully poured some silver powder into the plate, and then carefully stirred it with fine brush, and then applied it to the words of the mold.

Immediately afterwards, he took the newly printed silver note sample and inside the copper frame, and then carefully printed the model.

When Taichang took the modified silver note, he saw that it was indeed a starry sky, which looked quite high-end, elegant and upscale.

This silver note only uses a few grams of silver foil powder at most, while the minimum denomination of the silver note is one tael and the maximum is one hundred taels, which is not a loss at all.
Chapter completed!