In the early Middle Ages, Europe's monetary system was basically a Roman system inherited from the Roman Empire. It was mainly divided into three types: gold coins, silver coins and copper coins. The unit of gold coins was Suledes (private dus), weighing 4.48 grams, and pure gold (the purity is unclear). The auxiliary coins of gold coins also include Semisis (private s), which weighs half of Suledes; Tremisis (broadly s), which weighs one-third of Suledes.

The unit of silver coins is Slike (private iqu), twenty-four Slike is equal to one Sulledes; there is also an auxiliary coin called Dniel (dir), also called half Slike, of course, it is half the weight of Slike.

The unit of copper coins is Fries (is), which is the lowest unit for bargaining between Carl and the Imperial Merchant. One Slide is equal to eight Fries.

As time went by, in the mid-to-late Middle Ages, European countries changed a lot, and many other types of currencies appeared. For example, the Frank Melovin dynasty and the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom all issued their own gold coins and silver coins, but they were compared with the above system, and there was little change except for the name. In the future, the British shillings and French Sue were equivalent to the gold coins of the Sulades. The Holy Roman Empire later issued a currency called Ahimostale, which was popular in Europe for hundreds of years, referred to as Tale (tr). Later, the German pronunciation of Taleth was replaced by d, and was directly brought to the New World by immigrants, and it became dr. This word is not unfamiliar? It is the US dollar in later generations.

Later, Europeans found a exchange system that everyone recognized, which is "pound". One pound is a French Liver, an Italian lira, and a British pound. In France, 1 Liver = 20 Su = 240 Denell; in the UK, 1 pound = 20 shillings = 240 pennies. These names are actually just names for different regions, and they are essentially the same thing. But there is one difference, that is, the Germans, no, they were Germans, and there was no concept of Germany at that time. The Germans' unit was Mark. I didn't find out how they came about, but the ratio was, one mark equals 160 Finney, and one Finney was Denell.

In Europe in the 13th century, it was in a period of fierce competition between secular emperors and popes for power. Both the emperor and the pope's control over the empire had dropped significantly, so the right to mint coins fell into the hands of princes everywhere. Now it was in chaos, and there were many local currencies that were not heavy and of color, and there were many local currencies. It was the kind of thing that no one recognized this territory. How many were there? Not many, there were about 200 types in the most prosperous Frankish region in Western Europe, and in the Netherlands and Italy where commercial activities were more intensive, this number had to be doubled.

Here we have to talk about two financial terms, one is that bad money drives out good money, and the other is that currency depreciation. These two things began to appear from this time. In medieval Europe, input, minting bad money and ****, and robbery were all serious crimes (y), but they were repeatedly banned. This is the phenomenon of bad money driving out good money. Metal currency is worn out during use. Generally speaking, it will be reduced by 2% in ten years. After decades of use, it will not be able to continue to be used. At this time, it must be reclaimed and recast. The problem is that the recast new coins must maintain a reasonable weight, but no king is willing to pay this weight to add it out of his own pocket. What should I do? Gold and silver are expensive, and copper are relatively cheap, so I add copper. Therefore, the more these gold and silver coins are used, the less valuable it is. This is currency depreciation.

After saying that, the currency was not very satisfied. Just knowing that Suldes, Slik, and Fries are useless. Do you know how much these gold, silver and copper coins are worth? That is, their real currency value. I don’t know this thing. Currency has no meaning. So the author searched again, barely put together a set of perceived European currency power and wrote it as a rough measure.

Let’s talk about the price of a horse first, which is roughly divided into two types. One is an ordinary pack horse. The average price of a young and middle-aged pack horse is one livre, that is, a gold coin. The other is a war horse. After strict training, a war horse with horseshoes is worth about six livres. This price is already very expensive. You should know that a young bull is only one livre, and a war horse is equivalent to six bulls.

Why are war horses so expensive? In fact, Europe does not lack horses. But well-trained horses are so expensive. They not only represent horses, but also represent a class, that is, knights! In French, the word knight is the same as equestrian, which means that if you want to be a knight, you cannot be without war horses. What is a knight? It is the lower limit of the aristocratic class. Things that are for the nobles will be played with by the nobles. According to the standards of later generations, they will lose their identity when they are cheap. Therefore, war horses are so expensive in this era.

What are the requirements for a standard European knight in the 13th century? Carl calculated for Hong Tao with his fingers, and then Hong Tao gave up his plan to train a knight in Jinhewan. It was so expensive to be a knight, even a rich man like Hong Tao could not afford much.

A set of excellent knight armor costs at least twelve gold coins; a helmet with about six gold coins; a pair of good foot rings with six gold coins; a spear and a shield with at least two gold coins; a sword with three gold coins, and four gold coins (dazzling sheaths are more expensive than swords, so why? Sword scabbard can ****?); a war horse with at least six gold coins, and the saddle is calculated separately.

Well, a basic knight needs two war horses, a set of armor, a spear, a shield, and a sheathed sword. This is the property of forty-hard gold coins. But that's not enough. Knights not only fight, but also have to go out to hunt. When hunting, they have to have falcons. A trained falcon has six gold coins left. Sometimes they don't have to attend knights' martial arts competitions. It's the best place for knights and noble girls to know each other. If you spend this money, you have to prepare for clothing, beautiful saddles, knight attendants, etc.

Besides, the price of silk is even more outrageous. It is even more expensive than a war horse, reaching ten to eighteen livres. The price of fine cotton fabrics woven in Europe is much cheaper, 2*10 per piece, depending on the color, the price is about 3 livres. Hard cotton fabric is a kind of linen and cotton mixed fabric that looks a bit like a small canvas. One piece can reach about 4 livres.

Finally, let’s talk about the approximate income levels of Europeans in the 13th century. This issue is actually impossible to describe, because Europe is not a unified country, it is divided into many parts, and the economic development level is uneven. Let’s take the two countries, the Franks and the Holy Roman Empire as an example. The daily salary of a skilled craftsman is about 12 Dennier, the assistant is reduced by half, and the apprenticeship is reduced by half.

In 10 years, Pisa's annual tax revenue was more than 3,000 Liver. Paris was the largest European city at that time, with a population of more than 200,000 Liver. Compared with the Song Dynasty, which often cost tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, and millions, Europe at this time was a countryside with a small population and poor population. The most awesome cities in Europe only had 100,000 or 200,000 people, which was not as crowded as port cities like Guangzhou and Quanzhou in the Song Dynasty.

There are twelve pieces of alloy and silver tableware, 4 gold coins per can of white sugar, 5 oz of whale oil, and 1 and a half dozen gold coins. This is some of the prices of goods that Carl and the royal merchant negotiated with the royal merchant. Hong Tao himself thought the price was expensive, and he hoped to reduce the price by half so that it could be large. But Carl said that the price was already very cheap, no more expensive than the price from the Arabs, and he didn't have to go to the Arab port for transportation. No matter how cheap it was, it would affect the entire price system.

As for perfumes, cosmetics, silk clothing and other things, these finished products have never appeared in Europe. The royal merchants dare not price them casually. He suggested that Carl take them to the palace to take them, and then price them according to the auction situation and price. If Carl finds it troublesome, he can do it on his behalf, and the handling fee will not be charged, which is in vain!

"Can they afford these things? What can I get from this poor place?" Hong Tao was not very concerned about how much the goods could be spent. This time he came to send Carl home, fulfill his promise to his friends, and explore the economic, political and social situation in Europe. After chatting with this businessman named Giogio Peruji for most of the day, Hong Tao was completely cold. According to this situation, Europe has no power. It seems that the previous dumping plan needs to be changed. You can't run thousands of miles to do charity!

"Is this Geo a Jew?" When he heard that the royal merchant wanted to help him with goods for free, he didn't want any benefits, Hong Tao's thief began to change his mind again. Can merchants not do things? Or is it that Italian merchants, who are known for their shrewdness, so disbelief?

"...You are indeed a god. He and his family are the richest people in Genoa. There is also a Kobaldi family who is as famous as the Peruji family. They started their business by lending loans. They circulate tens of thousands of livres every year, and their property is estimated to be more than 100,000 livres." When Carl heard Hong Tao's problem, he almost knelt down to Hong Tao and kissed his shoes. This is amazing. After meeting for a while, he didn't talk about any religious issues. He could tell at a glance that this Giogio was a Jew!

"I wondered why are all Jews who lend money to loans? Your cousin is so powerful that he is all the emperors of the empire, so why don't he use money to make money? If you are so noble, you have no grudges with money. Even if you invest in a joint venture with them, it's not impossible?" Hong Tao asked Carl to say this, and immediately remembered a question. From the previous life, he had a question, why did the people who lend money to loans to Europe and the United States, especially in ancient times, all Jews were Jews? Could it be that there were not many smart people among Christians? Or was there any regulation that this kind of economic means can only be done by Jews, and others are not allowed to play with it?
Chapter completed!