ALL NOVEL Page 409
"If it doesn't work, the start of the canal project can only be postponed. Let's hurry up to mint coins first." Fusu sighed helplessly and said.
Everyone also nodded: "That's the only way."
Li Yang asked, "How long does it take to mint coins?"
Ji Xiedao: "From mining to casting at the mint, the advance payment required for the canal project will take at least half a year."
"What? Half a year!"
Li Yang's eyes widened.
"Yes, at least half a year." Ji Xie said.
"Forget it." Li Yang shook his head directly.
What a joke, if it takes half a year, should we build the canal?
Of course, with regard to minting coins in large quantities, he is not worried about inflation.
Because precious metals are valuable in themselves.
Therefore, if gold, silver and copper are used as currency materials, inflation will not occur anyway.
There are only two reasons for the "inflation" that happened in ancient China, one is the poor quality of coins, low copper content or light coins.The second is large-scale famines. However, in fact, grain and cloth have also assumed the role of equivalents for a long time in ancient China. In Japan, the role of grain as an equivalent continued until the Edo Shogunate period.Since the role of currency was once pinned on food and cloth itself, how can inflation still inflate? Strictly speaking, there was no inflation in ancient times (before paper money became popular).
Of course, there are exceptions. At the beginning of the period of great voyages, the Spaniards obtained a large amount of silver from South America, which once led to the saturation of silver in the European market.Prices rose, but throughout human history, this was the only inflation before paper money.
In ancient my country, due to the lack of a mature financial system, the currency could be issued endlessly in theory, but in reality it simply did not work.First of all, we need to know that copper is a precious metal, and it is valuable in itself.However, if the court mints too many copper coins, it will cause the depreciation of copper coins, and eventually the "minting cost" will be higher than the "use value" of the currency. , which forced him to stop minting coins.
There is also an interesting phenomenon in ancient times, because there is no financial system, the way people store copper coins can only be "hoarding and holding", or even directly buried in the ground, resulting in a continuous decrease in the currency in circulation on the market, which will make the currency appreciate. Once the "use value" in the market exceeds the "coinage cost", the imperial court can continue to mint copper coins.
This method is to let the market automatically adjust the balance between "goods" and "coins". The method is advanced and not cumbersome, which is simply amazing.
Although precious metal coins are valuable in themselves and are not prone to inflation, but...for Li Yang, a "talent" who traveled through the 21st century, this kind of coin is a bit OUT!
Casting coins with copper is time-consuming and labor-intensive, and it is not easy to carry, which is not conducive to the development of commercial society.
So... Li Yang has a bold idea.
Why don't we... let's just play with the next big one, step up to the big one, and directly establish a Central Bank of the Great Qin Empire to issue Great Qin banknotes?
Chapter 356 Credit Currency
There are three main stages of currency development.
One is the precious metal currency stage, that is, gold, silver, and copper.
The second is the gold standard stage, when the currency issued at this time can be exchanged for a certain amount of gold, which is actually a variant of the first stage.
The third is the credit currency stage, that is, the currency is decoupled from gold, and its value guarantee depends on national credit.Although there is electronic currency behind it, it is actually classified as credit currency.
The benefits of credit currency needless to say.
First of all, the cost of printing banknotes is lower than that of minting metal currency, and the efficiency is faster; secondly, it avoids the wear and tear of coins in circulation, prevents the invisible loss of precious metals, and at the same time avoids the damage caused by unscrupulous people cutting or melting metals. More importantly, banknotes are easier to keep, carry and transport than metal currencies, which greatly improves the circulation of currencies and is extremely conducive to the development of commercial society.
Especially for the traveler Li Yang, it would be unimaginable to buy a large item with a sack of coins.
Therefore, the establishment of a credit currency system is very necessary for Daqin to achieve the goal of a prosperous commercial society.
Of course, since it is a credit currency, the guarantee of its value depends on the national credit. Once the country cannot guarantee this credit, then this currency will become waste paper.
Because this currency has no value in attributes.
In Marx's words, only valuable commodities can serve as money, and paper, if it does not represent a definite amount of gold or silver, is always just paper.
For example, in 2006, Zimbabwe carried out the exchange of old and new Zimbabwe at a ratio of 1:1000;
In 2008, Zimbabwe carried out the exchange of old and new Zimbabwe again at a ratio of 1:10 (000 billion);
In 2009, Zimbabwe carried out the exchange of old and new Zimbabwe again at a ratio of 1:1 (000 trillion);
A single piece of bread costs 1 trillion yuan, and 60% of the labor force in the country is unemployed. The poor can only satisfy their hunger by catching birds in the sky and insects on the ground, and people starve to death every day.
After the new currency was issued in 2009, the governor of the Central Bank of Zimbabwe also "politely" said: "I am very sorry, yesterday's trillionaires will not be able to afford their favorite drinks today."
The reason for the depreciation of the Zimbabwean currency is mainly due to the sanctions of Western countries, the shortage of foreign exchange, and the failure of domestic policies.
To put it bluntly, Zimbabwe is unable to guarantee its own national credit.
Just say today, a Zimbabwean took a 10 trillion Zimbabwe currency and went to China to ask for 10 trillion yuan in exchange. Do you agree?You must disagree.
But what about dollars?You will definitely agree.
why?
Because the United States has the ability to guarantee the national credit of the US dollar and the world status of the US dollar.
If you have to put it more simply and straightforwardly, it is like an ordinary person who takes a piece of paper to a group of friends and says it is worth gold, and the group of people will definitely slap him.
But this man led a group of armed men, pointed a gun at the heads of these friends, and said that the paper in his hand was worth gold. Would this group of friends dare not buy it?
At present, Daqin has enough ability to guarantee the issuance of credit currency.
The "national credit" of Daqin can not only be bought by the people of Daqin, but Li Yang is confident that he can also let the whole world buy it. In the near future, Daqin banknotes will be used as international credit currency, circulated in the world, and cut off from people all over the world. of wool.
At that time, Daqin is equivalent to saying that paper can be exchanged for supplies and real money from all over the world, and it is simply not too profitable.
For a long time, for Li Yang, to rule by force and dominate the world is not the blessing of the people of Great Qin.Because Daqin wants to conquer the whole world, he will inevitably end up in a ten-room and nine-empty end.
At that time, even if Daqin really conquered the whole world, so what?
How many years can a nation rule the world?
a year?three years?Or ten years?
Throughout history, the rise and fall of Chinese dynasties lasted only three to four hundred years, and if they ruled China like this, how can they rule the world for a hundred years?
Obviously, it is not cost-effective for the Chinese people to use the lives of Chinese men to fight for world hegemony just to rule for a period of time.Just ask, who doesn't want to live a good life?Whose life is not precious?Whose life can be restarted?
And use the powerful military power and national power to pry open the world's trade door and let the world use Qin coins as the international credit currency to conduct international trade. This method of ruling the world with currency is the most cost-effective business, and it can truly dominate for a long time The means of the world are of great benefit to the country and the people.
At that time, countries all over the world will exchange gold for Qin's paper money, which is equivalent to the flow of gold from all over the world into Daqin.
Even if Daqin banknotes are no longer recognized by the world in the future, so what, Daqin at that time already owned all the gold in the world.That is, paper was exchanged for the wealth of the whole world.
Thinking that credit currency is directly related to the great cause of Daqin's dominance of the world in the future, Li Yang became more determined in his bold idea of issuing credit currency.
Therefore, Li Yang immediately said: "It is too slow to mint money, and it is not conducive to circulation and carrying. I have a more subtle method, which is worth trying."