Chapter 284: Temple Finance

What was Zhang Zhao taking out? Silver notes, of course.

Historically, silver notes would not appear until the mid-Northern Song, when Sichuan suffered so badly from iron coinage that something similar, the jiaozi, was invented.

Using intricate patterns and specially agreed-upon secret codes, they were used for large transactions — the world's earliest paper money.

"The Khagan means to use this thing directly as five hundred strings of cash? It is nothing but a painted paper the size of two palms — who would ever accept it?"

Even Cao Wantongxi, who was prepared to become Zhang Zhao's claw and fang, was growing uneasy. Attaching oneself to power in order to conduct commerce was the Sogdian merchants' time-honored method.

But when it came to money, they were a mercantile people who reckoned profit even between father and son, and they were extremely sensitive to such things.

And Zhang Zhao caught the implication behind Cao Wantongxi's words, because before the Northern Song jiaozi appeared, the Tang dynasty had already had the "flying cash."

Only the use of flying cash was still quite limited. It could not be used directly as a silver note; rather, it was a remittance certificate, functioning much like a bank draft.

Cao Wantongxi had asked Zhang Zhao directly who would accept it — and there was more behind that question as well.

Flying cash had circulated in the Tang on the guarantee of government credit. Once the Great Tang declined and the Central Plains warlords cast aside all restraint, flying cash in practice could no longer circulate.

To put it plainly, whether flying cash, jiaozi, or a draft, in essence it is all a form of credit.

And that credit comes from two sources: the guarantee of political power — armed force — and the guarantee of redemption capacity.

"I accept it! This painted paper shall be split in two, half kept with me, the two patterns exactly identical, matched with certain secret codes. So long as they correspond, I will honor it!"

Zhang Zhao said calmly, for he too understood the true meaning behind Cao Wantongxi's question. When he finished, he waved a hand toward Guo Tiance.

"Captain Cao may be asking what I would use to honor it. Adjutant Guo, bring in my treasures so that all present may see."

Guo Tiance nodded and went out. Before long, sixty or seventy soldiers, chanting "Heave-ho! Heave-ho!", carried three man-sized human figures into the meditation hall.

Zhang Zhao rose with a smile, then one by one pulled away the silk cloths covering the figures.

"Buddha above!" Kang Jinshan let out a howl of shock and dropped straight to his knees.

Cao Wantongxi's eyes burst with golden light, his pupils nearly turning into the shape of copper coins. Even the eminent monks, Master Shan Yuan and several other great worthies, were stunned speechless.

What Zhang Zhao had brought in were three human-shaped statues, roughly three chi two or three cun tall — about one and a half meters.

They were carved in the likeness of the Wheel-Turning King's treasure-keeping attendants. Though the craftsmanship was somewhat crude, their value was extraordinary.

For these three treasure-keepers were cast of pure gold. The golden crowns on their heads and the robes on their bodies were all inlaid with jade and precious stones of every kind. The moment they were set down in the meditation hall and struck by the sunlight through the door, one could scarcely keep one's eyes open.

"Captain Kang, some say one such treasure-keeper is worth eighty thousand strings. Do you think it is worth that?" Zhang Zhao asked with a smile, turning to Kang Jinshan beside him, who had been so frightened he had sat down on the floor.

"Worth it! Absolutely worth it! Likely even more!" Kang Jinshan nodded repeatedly. At present, gold and silver exchanged at six to one — roughly one to six.

Eighty thousand strings was eighty thousand taels of silver, less than fourteen thousand taels of gold. This treasure-keeper statue, by any reckoning, ought to weigh that much — to say nothing of the great quantity of gems and jade inlaid upon it.

"Of such treasure-keepers, I have thirty. With these as security, does Captain Cao think this silver note worth five hundred strings?"

Although Zhang Zhao had never studied finance in his later life, he still understood the simple principle of holding gold reserves and using them to issue currency.

But such credit could not be built in a day, and so Zhang Zhao turned his gaze to the monk Shan Yuan.

"Abbot, I have long been in Anxi, and I have ties with all the Buddhist communities there.

Before coming, I already obtained the consent of the Great Cloud Temple of Shule, the Samoja Temple of Khotan, the Lingyuan Temple of Shazhou, and the Guanyin Temple of Guazhou,

as well as the Golden Kingdom of Khotan, Samanid Persia, the State of Anyuan, and the State of Zhenyuan. All are willing to conduct redemption business for these silver notes of mine.

If I can also gain the consent of the Great Cloud Temple of Liangzhou, then along the entire road from Liangzhou to the State of Zhenyuan in India,

whether in Dunhuang, Khotan, Shule, Suyab, Ningyuan, Samarkand, Bukhara, Huwen City, or Zhenyuan City, all will be able to exchange.

No longer will merchants traveling east and west need to use half their transport capacity to carry gold and silver, as they do now.

In this way every traveling merchant can carry half again as much goods, and whether in stabilizing prices or in mercantile profit, all will increase greatly."

Master Shan Yuan felt his itch grow worse. He looked at Zhang Zhao with a headache coming on. This Dharma King Zhang truly had him cornered! Time and again he used grand causes to press people down.

Look at this moment — if the Great Cloud Temple of Liangzhou refused, the label of non-cooperation would immediately be slapped onto his head, and then this whole chain of temples, kings, city lords, and traveling merchants would hate him to death.

However, as an abbot who frequently lent money at high interest, Master Shan Yuan was no stranger to finance. After a moment's thought, he realized this business truly had great potential.

So long as they acknowledged that Zhang Zhao's silver notes could be redeemed, then the flow of merchant funds along this road would all come under the grasp of the temples along the way.

Such convenient silver notes would spare traveling merchants the hardship of transporting gold and silver and give them double the carrying capacity. A redemption fee of fifty cash per thousand would not be too much, would it?

And if the Buddhist community controlled this, would not the spread of the Dharma along the road from Hexi to India be all the swifter?

Still, Master Shan Yuan's mind raced. He could not agree too readily, or who knew what other mischief this Dharma King Zhang might stir up in the future?

Moreover, a bare verbal promise to redeem would certainly not do; there must be goods and property pledged as security.

And so in the brief span of half a cup of tea, Master Shan Yuan hit upon the greatest problem with Zhang Zhao's silver notes — how to distinguish genuine from counterfeit. He cleared his throat and looked at Zhang Zhao.

"This undertaking of the Dharma King's does indeed bring convenience to merchants everywhere. But this old monk has a few points of uncertainty and begs the Dharma King's instruction."

"Master, please speak." Zhang Zhao extended a hand in a gesture of invitation.

"First, how will these silver notes guard against reckless men who would counterfeit them? A mere painted paper worth five hundred strings — an ordinary man could not earn such a sum in a lifetime, and surely some will take desperate risks.

Second, if I may speak a word that offends the Dharma King: these notes are issued by the Dharma King, yet the burden of redemption falls upon our Buddhist community. If one day I have taken in tens of thousands or even over a hundred thousand strings and find I cannot redeem them, what then? And if the Dharma King will not redeem them for us, what then?"

"The Master asks well. These are precisely the points I was prepared to explain.

As for preventing counterfeiting — Master, please look at this painted paper. I intend to issue four denominations: fifty strings, one hundred strings, two hundred strings, and five hundred strings. Sample patterns for each have already been painted by my order.

On this painting there are eighteen details, large and small. If even one does not match the sample, it is a forgery.

At the same time, we may agree upon a number of passwords. Whoever comes to redeem a note must speak the correct password before redemption is granted.

Finally, the pictures on these notes are entirely the work of painters. From our Anxi to Zhenyuan in India, those who can read and write are exceedingly rare. Those who can both read and write and are also skilled in the art of painting are rarer still. How many could there be who are capable of forgery?

I shall at once order that all those skilled in painting in every place be registered. Whoever dares to counterfeit — his whole family shall be beheaded!"

As Zhang Zhao spoke, he chopped his hand down through the air, and the image of a ruthless, formidable warlord struck everyone full in the face.

Cao Wantongxi and the others nodded. It was indeed as Zhang Zhao said — those who could copy these notes were few indeed. So long as such men were kept under watch, they would not dare act recklessly.

Zhang Zhao had also given this problem full consideration. In later ages, to say nothing of photocopying, one never knew where some great master might suddenly appear to teach you a lesson.

But in the Five Dynasties period, and in such remote lands as Hexi and Anxi, those with such ability were vanishingly few.

"As for the Master's final concern — these three treasure-keepers, since I have brought them in, I do not intend to carry them away again. Let them serve as my pledge."

"And the Buddhist treasures in my hands can also be delivered to Great Cloud Temple, to be enshrined on my behalf by the eminent monks and great worthies."

Zhang Zhao had thought this through long ago. He had brought back several million strings of gold and silver, and he absolutely dared not dump it all onto the market at once. Better to use it as collateral and draw the monks of Great Cloud Temple — and indeed all the monks of Anxi and Hexi — into the scheme.

In this way, he would be treating this enormous sum of gold and silver, which could not be put onto the market all at once, as the reserve backing for issuing paper money. As long as he did not over-issue, it would generally be no problem to issue three to five times its value.

Six million strings multiplied fivefold came to thirty million strings. With such vast financial power, Zhang Zhao was fully confident that within three to five years he could swallow up the Military Governor of Lingwu (Shuofang), and even the territory of the Tiande Army at Fengzhou.

These two rich stretches of the Hetao region both lay along the Yellow River. Once Zhang Zhao took Lanzhou, he could conveniently sail downstream to attack them.

It would also lock the Dingnan Army firmly inside Xiazhou and Youzhou, making it easier for Zhang Zhao to swallow the warlike Tangut tribes in one gulp — first turning them into an oversized Western Xia, and then going from there.

Master Shanyuan and several eminent monks of Great Cloud Temple exchanged glances, then nodded calmly.

"This matter is of great importance. We ask that the Dharma King grant our humble temple some days. We must still discuss it among ourselves."

Before Zhang Zhao could answer, Kang Jinshan, who had been silent all along, suddenly looked at Zhang Zhao and said: "If the Khagan wishes to do this silver-note business, he must first have all of Hexi firmly in his grasp. It seems the final days of the Ganzhou Uyghurs are not far off!"

Zhang Zhao glanced at Kang Jinshan approvingly. His straight-man skills were quite good. Then Zhang Zhao's gaze shifted back to Master Shanyuan.

"The Yageluo clan of the Ganzhou Uyghurs remain obstinate and unrepentant. The Pugu clan of the Gaochang Uyghur Khaganate have already begun to throw themselves into the Buddha's embrace — only they still believe in Manichaeism. Truly hateful!

I have long intended to launch a punitive campaign, but I lack sufficient army provisions. I have heard that Great Cloud Temple holds over a hundred thousand mu of fine fields outside Liangzhou. I wish to lease them. Would you all be willing to accommodate me?

Consider it together with the other matter. I do not mind paying a somewhat higher rent. The main thing is that the brave warriors under my command need to eat. If they have no food, they are liable to make trouble."

Having said this, Zhang Zhao signaled with his eyes to Guo Tiance and the monk Huixing Yanghe.

"The weather has cleared nicely today. I hear Captain Kang's household has a cook from Samarkand who prepares excellent food. Captain Cao, why don't we take the afternoon meal at Captain Kang's house?"

Cao and Kang were both momentarily startled, then understood that Zhang Zhao likely had matters to discuss with them — and perhaps also wanted to give the pale-faced Master Shanyuan a moment to recover. The two men hastily agreed.

Zhang Zhao left, but Guo Tiance and Yanghe stayed behind. This was Zhang Zhao's arrangement. He himself would certainly not be the one to negotiate the specifics with monks like Shanyuan.

If he went himself, and the bargaining failed, the only option left would be force. It was best to send Guo Tiance and Yanghe first.

Zhang Zhao's demands were also simple. First, Great Cloud Temple of Liangzhou must be deeply bound to him. They had to participate in the silver-note acceptance business from Hexi to Transoxiana.

In principle, they could also use the silver notes to redeem gold and silver from Zhang Zhao, but there had to be clear rules about when redemption was allowed and when it was not.

Second, the temple lands of Liangzhou, led by Great Cloud Temple, must surrender at least half. Of course, Zhang Zhao did not want to fall out with them just yet.

Therefore Zhang Zhao decided that, aside from his being able to mortgage the gold and silver in his hands to the various temples for no more than five hundred thousand strings, all the Buddhist treasures he had brought from India could also be mortgaged into their keeping.

Moreover, Zhang Zhao did not want to take these temple lands from them outright. He genuinely intended to lease them, and the rent would be paid as agreed — but the right of use had to be in Zhang Zhao's hands.

He was using a money-losing method to gain control of the land first. When the time came that he had the leverage to fall out with these bald heads, he would simply confiscate it. If they wanted to avoid confiscation, that was fine too — they could pay taxes as usual.

How long would he have to compromise? Zhang Zhao felt that at least until he had unified Hexi and taken Lingzhou, Xiazhou, and Fengzhou, he could not yet do such a thing.

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