The next topic is the issue of currency reform. Thanks to the modern Internet, this group of modern people from all over the world with various professions almost all have some knowledge of economics, and these knowledge are also divided into different economic theories. In the dormitory area, in the future
The economic structure and monetary policy are the fourth most important issues among people across the world, second only to officials, inheritance and women. Many people are just like those who used to participate in forums, using all kinds of methods to explain things they don’t understand at all.
He was arguing with specious theories, frothing at the mouth, until he wanted to take action.
But for Cheng Dong, these theories are meaningless to the Finance Committee. Although anyone who has studied some history knows that ancient Chinese society is basically a natural economic society, self-sufficiency is the mainstream, and commodity exchange is very unfair.
developed.
But it wasn't until they came to this time and space, truly came into contact with all kinds of local people and things, and witnessed the social and business environment at that time, that the time travelers realized that they had arrived in an era of "natural economy". Especially
A remote purely agricultural county like Lingao. Although the late Ming Dynasty is known as the budding era of Chinese capitalism, in Lingao, not to mention capitalism, even the simplest commodity exchange is pitiful.
There are only fourteen cities in the county in total. These fourteen cities are so small that they are not as big as the markets in residential areas in many people's original time and space. Some cities don't even have houses at all, just a piece of dirt and a few houses.
A thatched hut. In the already pitifully small market, physical exchange is the mainstay. Whether farmers pay rent to landlords or landowners pay grain to the government, they all use grain. Most farmers and landlords live a life of self-production.
In a life of selling, only a few goods are purchased in the market - even such transactions are mostly in kind, such as home-woven homespun cloth, specialties from the mountains and the like. Even the remuneration paid by the yamen to the yamen and petty officials is the same.
Use grain cloth.
Therefore, not to mention "bank notes" like in movies and TV shows, even silver is very rare locally. The limited currency circulation is dominated by various copper coins. According to statistics from the Ministry of Finance, there are more coins circulating in the market.
The most famous copper coins include Tang coins, Song coins and Ming coins, and even the five-baht coins of the Han Dynasty are also in circulation.
In this way, an important problem faced by the time-travelers' regime is the lack of sufficient payment methods. The time-travelers have enough silver and gold in their hands, whether they are brought from the original time and space, or they sell goods in this time and space, and get them from big players.
, the inventory currently directly controlled by the Finance and Financial Committee alone includes 120 kilograms of 975 silver, more than 700 kilograms of various silver ingots, silver cakes, broken silver, silverware and silver jewelry, and more than 20,000 taels of silver in this space-time library. There are also two
There are more than 10,000 Spanish reals and silver pesos, mainly silver coins from various countries. The total gold reserves are more than 200 taels. In addition, there are more than 5,000 copper coins.
Such a huge wealth is difficult for time travelers to use - time travelers spend more on small amounts locally: paying wages, purchasing raw materials and food. Silver is rarely used in these business transactions, and copper coins become a waste.
The most common currency. Travelers regard copper coins as metal raw materials and want to minimize their expenditures in this regard.
As a result, various departments under the Executive Committee came up with various methods when it came to external payments. Wu De first used work-point coupons in the labor corps and communes, and then the more direct rice stamps and salt stamps appeared.
.And work-point coupons are essentially a food-based currency. Finally, after the opening of the Women's Welfare Society, the practice of using travelers' accounting salary points to purchase goods made this situation even more complicated.
As a result, the finance department found itself in a state of chaos. Whether it was the budget reported, the accounts paid, or the reimbursements, each department had different units with "two" and "wen".
"jin" is used, but also "points" and "fens" are used. Coupled with the conversion of different values, the accountants under Cheng Dong almost went crazy. Therefore, the financial department insisted on unifying the currency. With a unified currency,
Only then can we talk about establishing a currency exchange and financial system.
The first monetary system proposed by the Executive Committee was the silver standard system, which issued silver dollars. Each silver dollar was equivalent to half a kuping tael in the Ming Dynasty.
Travelers have sufficient silver reserves in their hands, and such silver reserves will increase in the future. There is sufficient material guarantee for the issuance of silver coins.
Secondly, considering the notorious reputation of Ming Dynasty banknotes, I am afraid that neither businessmen nor ordinary people will like banknotes, and it will be very difficult to promote their circulation.
From this point of view, the silver dollar system seems to be more appropriate.
However, some people have put forward different views and believe that the time for issuing silver coins is not mature enough.
Lingaolin's own economy is underdeveloped, the market is small, and the material output is not rich. Even if half a kuping of silver coins is issued, the purchasing power is really too high. After all, the price of rice in Lingao is only one, two, or three taels, which is half a kuping.
Two, you can buy almost 36 kilograms of rice. It is still too large for small payments. Crossing the political power will inevitably lead to the continued issuance of auxiliary coins.
In order to gain credibility, the coinage of the time traveler must be well-made, but another law in the market is that bad coins drive out good coins. It can be imagined that once the time traveler puts high-quality coins on the market, the Chinese people traditionally like to hoard gold and silver.
Even the habit of high-quality copper coins will swallow these coins like a black hole. Not only will it not be able to dominate the market for a while, but it will probably be swallowed up by the bad coins coming from the surroundings - after all, the time traveler only controls a small Lingao.
.
Taking into account the final consideration, the Executive Committee decided to issue grain-based banknotes in the ruling area. This kind of banknotes was named "Lingao Grain Circulation Coupons." The reason why names such as Tongbao are not used is purely to avoid irritating the government. Money coupons
, these tokens for money raising have always been issued by merchants in ancient China on their own, with minimal interference from the government.
In form, it uses "yuan" as the unit to avoid confusion with the past units such as "wen", "liang" and "money". The basic unit of Lingao circulation coupons is yuan, and each yuan is equivalent to 500 grams of rice.
. Below the yuan is "fen", one yuan equals one hundred cents.
As long as the time-traveling regime has enough food in its hands, the credit of this paper currency can be guaranteed - the time-travelers still have full confidence in their agriculture.
In the long run, the food standard is just a measure of rights and interests, but at the current level, this system is still relatively safe and acceptable - after all, travelers have established considerable credibility in the local area. Implementing this kind of "food stamps"
It shouldn't be very difficult.
"I still doubt whether banknotes can be used." Li Haiping of the Navy felt that this matter was unreliable at the discussion meeting. "Don't tell me that banknotes were circulated in the Song and Yuan Dynasties. That is government behavior. No matter how much the government abuses, it is not a waste of money."
We still have credibility when we get home. Why should we let the people believe it?"
Wen Desi explained, "As long as there is a place that can exchange the equivalent amount in full, the common people will accept it. When the pound still had gold content, everyone knew how much gold a gold pound could exchange, but in fact no one would go there.
To exchange it for gold, it is enough for people to know that this banknote can be exchanged for gold when taken to the Bank of England."
"But what do we use to pay for our foreign trade?" People in the commercial department questioned, "People don't recognize your banknotes, and they don't want your rice. They all have black eyes and see silver."
"Haha, I'm still thinking about the silver. What do we need the silver for, to buy things outside Hainan Island? Then why not just have the supplies shipped here? We also need to use the silver to transfer hands. Isn't it troublesome? We are not Spaniards. Take
If we can’t produce good things, we can only buy them with money. We have attractive goods, and businessmen will naturally come here in pursuit of profits. Just barter,” said Yanquezhi. Because he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in finance and understands accounting business.
, so Cheng Dong has been transferred to the Finance and Finance Committee to serve.
"Actually, I don't think it's very meaningful to increase the local silver reserves in Lingao." Wen Desi said, "In Lingao, a small place, if there is too much silver, it will depreciate. As for current external purchases, in Guangzhou we have ten
Tens of thousands of dollars are available, and Guangzhou Station will continue to replenish it in the future. There is nothing difficult about purchasing and paying."
"If we really need money, we can pay with silver pesos." Cheng Dong said, "This kind of money is very popular along the coast and is easy to circulate."
"Then if outsiders come to our ruling area, what exchange rate will be used?"
Cheng Dong said: "Let me explain monetary policy."
The time-traveling regime does not intend to completely replace all currencies in the local market with circulation notes. This is beyond its current capabilities. Travelers only use it as a means of payment and settlement. Silver and copper coins are already in circulation.
will continue to circulate. The exchange rate between them is based on the rice price as a reference. Assuming that the rice price is 1 Kupingliang per metric stone (100 kilograms), then 1 Kupingliang can be exchanged for 200 yuan of Lingao circulation coupons.
"But this is a theoretical statement. Within a few years, our circulation certificates and various miscellaneous silver coins will not be exchanged."
Cheng Dong explained that the reason why there was no exchange was because the currency system in the Ming Dynasty was extremely disordered and the phenomenon of private minting was serious. The fineness of both silver and money was unimaginably complicated, making it difficult to estimate its correct value, and the difficulty of exchange was too great.
Someone asked: "I want to know how much ability we have to actually control the rice market in Lingao? Since rice is used as collateral, the fluctuations in rice prices will cause the fluctuations in the actual purchasing power of currency, right?"
"This is indeed a problem." Cheng Dong admitted. The value of food is not as stable as precious metals such as gold and silver. Food is affected by many external factors. "But I think that as far as the whole Lingao scope is concerned, it is completely possible to go through the government."