The old man came straight to the point, which made Yang Zhen slightly stunned. Although he hesitated a little, Yang Zhen decided to be honest and tell his thoughts truthfully: "Uncle, what you said is right. I went to visit you at home yesterday. It is true that I have some immature ideas that I would like to discuss with my uncle."
"Uncle, there is an old saying in China since ancient times: Farming is unstable, no work means no wealth, and no business means no life. If it is a big country or a small city, if there is no food, the people will not have enough food to eat and their stomachs will be unstable. Without industry, the people will not be able to survive. There will be no income, no prosperity, no commerce, no material circulation, and no tax revenue, and no tax revenue, which means no revenue, and then our base area will become a pool of stagnant water."
"Most of us are soldiers. Although we can't do very well in war, we can still be considered qualified. But if we are asked to do business and trade, this is not what we are good at. We will conquer the world immediately. But I can't rule the world right away, I think my uncle should be very clear about it."
"And compared with Japan, the difference between us is not just as simple as national power. Japan is an industrial country and can produce all the weapons and equipment needed by its army on its own. But for us, almost everything is still Rely on external providers.”
"In this way, not only is our lifeline subject to others, but it also puts considerable pressure on us economically, especially given our current limited financial resources. The pressure is great, but our foundation is too weak. , even with limited financial resources, for many things, in order to ensure the combat effectiveness of the army, we can only rely on imports, and relying on imports means that the scale of funds required every year is almost quite huge."
"My uncle has been in business for many years. It can be said that he started from scratch. He relied on his own efforts to create a huge family business. What's even more rare is that he has always cared about the country and the nation and is a patriotic businessman. We believe that his uncle is absolutely capable. People, I believe even more in the patriotic feelings in my uncle’s heart.”
"We hope that uncle can not only provide us with some help in economic construction, but also help us broaden our financial sources. In this regard, we are really not good at it. Three larger cities, plus dozens of counties , managing a population of millions and achieving orderly development is a severe test for us."
"Not only now, the base area will also develop and grow in the future. All of this requires an orderly management process. At the same time, the government must improve people's livelihood, develop the economy, and make all preparations for the final defeat of Japanese imperialism. These , it all requires everyone’s collective efforts.”
"We are currently vigorously developing the military industry and shouting the slogan "Everything is for the front line", but so many people need to eat, clothe and work. This is a new test for us. The wartime economic system is currently It is a helpless choice under the circumstances, but this economic system cannot last long."
"Now we are facing many, even considerable, difficulties in economic construction. I just told you that many of our materials, including some military raw materials, still need to be imported from Jiangbei. These imported materials, The financial pressure is quite great for us.”
"The annual fiscal deficit in this area alone amounts to hundreds of millions of Manchukuo currency. All shortfalls are currently being balanced by gold produced from several large gold mines within the base area, as well as borrowing foreign debt. But our gold output is It is limited and cannot be used to import supplies. Too much foreign debt will also affect our own development."
"Furthermore, if we want to engage in economic construction, we also need a huge amount of investment. In order to completely drive Japanese imperialism out of China, even if we tighten our belts, we still need to build a number of our own defense industries. During this period, , we have had too many experiences of being strangled.”
"But our country is an agricultural country through and through. The limited industries in the Northeast are mostly concentrated in Southern Manchuria. Except for some mining and logging industries, Northern Manchuria is almost blank. We must build on this basis. The cost of an industry that is the most basic in today’s wars is almost astronomical.”
"After a period of time, the common people have gained a certain understanding of us. However, the common people still do not trust the currency issued by the base area. It is very laborious to implement. A large number of merchants refuse to accept it and the common people do not recognize it. Currently in Harbin In the market, counterfeit Manchu coins are still mainly circulating, and there are even a small number of Fengyang coins issued by the Northeast Official Bank before the September 18th Incident."
“As an emerging regime, we don’t want to take drastic measures to enforce it, but if this situation continues, it will be very detrimental to us, and the issuance and circulation of pseudo-Manchu currency are still mainly in the hands of the enemy and puppets. This situation can easily be exploited by the enemy to disrupt our financial order and undermine our war potential."
"How to establish a reasonable and effective financial source, adopt some methods to allow the people to fully accept our own currency, and establish our own financial order is an urgent matter for us. Relying on the captured enemy and puppet funds, After all, it is not a long-term solution, and the lack of effective economic management talents has become our biggest headache at present."
"The old man has been tested in the business world for a long time and is well-informed. Before the September 18th Incident, he went to Peking, Tianjin, Shanghai and other economically developed areas many times, and his vision is far beyond what our generation can compare with, so the younger generation I want to ask the old man to come out and give us some guidance, and I still have some immature ideas in my mind, so I still need the old man’s strong assistance.”
After listening to Yang Zhen's words, the old man pondered for a moment and then said: "The people's ability to accept and have confidence in a new currency is based on an effective economic foundation and your strength on the battlefield. As long as you continue to win on the battlefield, , the people's acceptance of the currency you issue will continue to increase."
"However, when you issue currency, you also have to consider the quality of the currency. Now it seems that the currency you issue, called RMB, is printed too roughly, and even uses lithographic technology, and has almost no anti-counterfeiting performance. No wonder it’s hard for people to accept it.”
"I also know that your conditions were very difficult before. As the commander-in-chief of an army of hundreds of thousands, you only have a simple meal every day. I heard Xiao Yuan say that you have to calculate the daily fuel consumption of your own vehicle. It is unrealistic to invest too much effort in printing currency at once."
"But General Yang, you must also consider that since the Republic of China, the currency has been chaotic. Every party with a little strength has issued its own currency in order to make money. First, the Beiyang Government, and then China under the National Government, the two banks of communications issued currency, and the Japanese started North Korean banks issue currency, and even some large and small banks also issue currency."
"In the Northeast alone, there are Feng banknotes, Longyuan notes, copper dollar notes, Japanese military notes, gold dollar notes issued by the Bank of Korea, Japanese yen, Russian Qiang stickers, and even some other popular coins such as Jin notes, Hebei notes, etc. The internal currency included in the notes, even if it is Feng Yang, must be divided into big ocean and small ocean."
"These currencies, such as the Hebei bills popular in South Manchuria, were simply issued by some warlords to raise military expenditures and make money. Most of the currencies were crudely made, and they did not even have reserves. These currencies had no ability to circulate at all, but they were used with guns. Zi forced the people to accept it,
"After the Fengcun launched Fengyang, it stabilized the chaotic financial situation in the Northeast for a short period of time. However, years of civil war, military expenditures were too huge, and Fengxian banknotes continued to depreciate year after year. In addition, in order to compete for the financial power in the Northeast, the Japanese secretly With constant confusion, Fengyang also collapsed several times. It was not until the Japanese established the so-called Puppet Manchukuo State and forcibly unified the Northeastern currency that it stabilized."
"In recent years, the common people have been suffering from currency chaos and are psychologically repelled by some currencies. In addition, the currency printing you issued is really rough. It is not surprising that the common people do not accept it. The common people have worked hard for several years and even After decades of accumulating a little bit of savings, once encountering currency instability and inflation, the savings of decades may become a pile of waste paper."
"Let the common people who have suffered from currency chaos for many years receive a shoddy currency. General Yang, let us put ourselves in his shoes. Do you think it is possible? Especially when you have not yet gained a complete advantage, the common people have in their hands What do you think in your shoddy minds?"
"Don't you also think that you are just trying to raise military funds, regardless of the life and death of the people? General Yang, you are still young, and you may not have had that kind of experience. You have worked hard for a whole year, but what you got in exchange is like waste paper, devalued. What would you think of a banknote that moves faster than it can be issued?"
"In order for the common people to accept the banknotes you print, the first step is to improve the printing technology, and also take some technical measures to make those banknotes at least look like banknotes, not just pieces of waste paper. There is a fake Manchukuo Bank in Harbin. Can the currency printing factory use its equipment to improve the printing quality of banknotes?"
"The second is that you must win more battles on the battlefield. The more battles you win, the more confident the people will be, and these currencies will gradually circulate. Another point is that prices must remain stable, as long as there is no inflation. , the situation of substantial currency depreciation, if we proceed step by step, it will be a matter of time before the people accept these new currencies."
"The issuance of a currency does not mean printing as much as you want, but it must be formulated based on your economic policy and the market's acceptance. Especially during the war, for the side that is still at a disadvantage in terms of overall strength, It’s not that easy to introduce a new currency.”
"In order for the people to build confidence in a newly issued currency, especially it cannot be implemented with bayonets, forced implementation, and forced exchange like Japan did. Although the effect can be seen within a short period of time, it will only make it worse after a long time. The people have lost confidence in you."
"Since it cannot be implemented by force, we must do everything we can to maintain price stability, which means ensuring sufficient market supply. Only when prices are stable, inflation will not occur, and the purchasing power of the new currency can be guaranteed. In this way, This will build the people's confidence in this currency. Once the people's confidence is built up, they can use market means to gradually adopt exchange measures."