THE  CURRENCY

139
and  authority  as  if  they  were  of  pure  gold  or  silver  ;
and  on  every  piece  a  variety  of  officials,  whose  duty  it
is,  have  to  write  their  names,  and  to  put  their  seals.
And  when  all  is  prepared  duly,  the  chief  officer  deputed
by  the  Kaan  smears  the  Seal  entrusted  to  him  with
vermilion,  and  impresses  it  on  the  paper,  so  that  the
form  of  the  Seal  remains  stamped  upon  it  in  red  ;  the
Money  is  then  authentic.  Any  one  forging  it  would
be  punished  with  death].  And  the  Kaan  causes  every
year  to  be  made  such  a  vast  quantity  of  this  money,
which  costs  him  nothing,  that  it  must  equal  in  amount
all  the  treasure  in  the  world.
“  With  these  pieces  of  paper,  made  as  I  have
described,  he  causes  all  payments  on  his  own  account
to  be  made  ;  and  he  makes  them  to  pass  current
universally  over  all  his  kingdoms  and  provinces  and
territories  and  whithersoever  his  power  and  sovereignty ­
  extends.  And  nobody,  however  important
he  may  think  himself,  dares  to  refuse  them  on
pain  of  death.  And  indeed  everybody  takes  them
readily,  for  wheresoever  a  person  may  go  throughout
the  Great  Kaan's  dominions  he  shall  find  these  pieces
of  paper  current,  and  shall  be  able  to  transact  all  sales
and  purchases  of  goods  by  means  of  them  just  as  well
as  if  they  were  coins  of  pure  gold.  And  all  the  while
they  are  so  light  that  ten  bezants’  worth  does  not
weigh  one  golden  bezant.
“  Furthermore  all  merchants  arriving  from  India
or  other  countries  and  bringing  with  them  gold  or
silver  or  gems  and  pearls,  are  prohibited  from  selling
to  any  one  but  the  Emperor.  He  has  twelve  experts
chosen  for  this  business,  men  of  shrewdness  and  experience ­
  in  such  affairs  ;  these  appraise  the  articles,
and  the  Emperor  then  pays  a  liberal  price  for  them  in
those  pieces  of  paper.  The  merchants  accept  his  price
readily,  for  in  the  first  place  they  would  not  get  so
good  an  one  from  anybody  else,  and  secondly,  they
are  paid  without  any  delay.  And  with  this  paper-