Chapter 495 Let’s get into the water together
Strictly speaking, a gold and silver standard monetary policy is unlikely to cause inflation. If only gold and silver are used as coins, the amount of gold and silver that exists in circulation depends entirely on the demand for money in the entire world.
When social demand increases, the quantity of gold and silver increases due to increased demand, either through mining, casting or allocation from national inventories; when social demand decreases, the same amount of gold and silver requires the purchase of fewer commodities. Using depreciated gold and silver to buy goods outweighs the gain, so people will store gold and silver, and the quantity in circulation will decrease.
In any case, there is no problem at all in keeping gold and silver for a few years. Therefore, the purchasing power of gold and silver remains stable over the long term under most circumstances.
But it is a pity that although China is not a big country in producing gold and silver, its output is not scarce. However, due to various reasons, and because gold and silver were the most important objects of wealth hoarding by the ancients, inferior metals had to be used. To serve as currency, that is, copper coins.
?Especially in the Han Dynasty, only merchants’ wealth was mainly in copper coins. The wealth of most people was mainly in the form of physical objects such as land, rice, or silk. The amount of copper coins held was enough to cover daily expenses. Therefore, when the types and quantities of goods change very little, the higher the velocity of money circulation, the higher the prices and the more serious the inflation.
This is the situation that Chang''an is facing now. When the people discovered that the copper coins in their hands began to depreciate, they frantically wanted to replace the copper coins in their hands with real objects, and those who got the copper coins had to quickly get rid of the copper coins again...
As a result, almost all the copper coins on the market were gathered together, and the goods, regardless of whether they were useful or not, were all taken home first!
The wooden tokens were easy to use, so I distributed more without realizing it. When it came time to distribute supplies, most of the food, grass and items were ordered by Dong Zhuo to be transported to Xiwu. Dong Xiangguo was extremely cheerful when he gave up the jade seal last time. , but this time, after allocating some food and grass, he refused to allocate it a second time, and refused to say anything.
This is something Li Ru can''t do anything about. Dong Zhuo''s temper became increasingly surly, and sometimes even Li Ru would be scolded, and then quickly turn around to appease him after the scolding, leaving Li Ru dumbfounded.
?Another thing that Li Ru has no way to do is that there may be a shortage of goods in the Chang''an market in general, but it will definitely not be like now! However, everyone''s nature was concentratedly reflected at this moment. They all saw the price rise and put all the copper coins in their hands into the market without any consideration. At the same time, it also reduced the supply of goods in the market...
It would have been fine if Li Ru had been in Chang''an from the beginning, and he might have been able to detect and control it in time. But after Li Ru arrived in Chang''an, under a vicious cycle, Chang''an''s market had begun to collapse, and it soon began to spread to surrounding areas. This heavy domino can no longer be lifted up.
The grain and grass in the original plan were transferred away by Dong Zhuo. Now the merchants and the people all over the city did not listen to the notices posted by Li Ru and the persuasion of the people sent out, and frantically devoted themselves to collecting all kinds of materials. …
Food is worth ten thousand yuan per stone! The rice shop was forced to open under the government''s orders, but every day the door was not even removed, it was just opened a small crack, and the grain sales were only two or three stones, so it was closed...
A fired earthenware bowl costs 5,000 yuan!
The second-grade burlap cost thirty thousand dollars a piece!
A big sheep costs 250,000 yuan!
??The price of an ordinary horse has increased to one million!
…
??The opponents Li Ru faces now are not the coalition forces in Shandong, but his own people.
It is not that there is no solution at all, but Li Ru has no burden at all in calculating his opponents. However, when it comes to attacking his own people, Li Ru is somewhat unable to do so.
Jia Xu picked up a piece of beef and said, "So, how much is this piece of meat worth now?"
Li Ru glanced at it angrily and said, "According to the current market price, the plate in front of you would cost about 8,000 yuan..."
"Eight thousand gold? Then add in these drinks, can''t we say it''s a banquet worth ten thousand gold?" Jia Xu clicked his tongue.
?Li Ru ignored Jia Xu''s complaints and stared at the table, still hesitating in his mind.
On the table are several copper coins.
New.
Jia Xu pinched a piece of beef, threw it into his mouth, chewed it, and said vaguely: "What do you think about this... just do it..."
??Li Ru raised his head, turned to Jia Xu, sighed and said, "It''s just like drinking a dove..."
Jia Xu smiled, put his finger in his mouth, licked it, and said, "How about you ask the Prime Minister to bring out the food and grass in Xiwu?"
Li Ru shook his head and said: "Unless all the grain and grass in the dock are transferred out now, it will be a drop in the bucket and will not help. Moreover, in the current situation, the prime minister also needs to ensure that the supply of military grain is safe."
"Then it''s over..." Jia Xu said nonchalantly, "Now that you have no way to win, you can''t make calculations, and you can''t make a draw, so why are you hesitating?"
Sang Hongyang, a great businessman of the Han Dynasty and a famous financial expert, creatively proposed three plans to stabilize prices and restore economic order. Through the implementation of these three policies, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty finally corrupted the finances of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty to the extreme. The mess was under control and remained so until Wang Mang, the reckless man, came to power... The equalized loss policy means that the tributes handed over by the localities to the central government will be converted into local products at the local market price. After being paid to the country, the government will uniformly transport them to those who lack them Products are sold in other regions, and the central government can take advantage of product price differences between regions to obtain high profits.
The calculation policy is the property tax for future generations. In conjunction with the subsequent prosecution order, the public was encouraged to report on those who concealed property. If the evidence was found to be true, the defendant would have to guard the border for a year, half of all property would be confiscated, and half would be rewarded to the whistleblower. After the injunction was issued, middle-class and above families went bankrupt one after another, and the government plundered countless private wealth. At the same time, it also provides a large number of free military personnel, killing two birds with one stone.
After the implementation of the policies of equalizing losses and calculating losses, the imperial court had a large amount of materials in its hands, and Sang Hongyang began to implement equalization policies to control inflation. Pingzhun was a specialized court agency located in Chang''an. It used state-controlled materials to sell at high prices and buy at low prices in the market to stabilize prices.
But now, Li Ru cannot do these three things. He has no choice and insufficient conditions. After all, the only ones Li Ru can control now are Yongzhou and Liangzhou, and even government orders can only be issued to these two areas at most, and most of Liangzhou''s generation are Qiang people, who are poorer than their butts.
Jia Xu said: "Show me the new money..."
?? Li Ru sighed, stood up, picked up a few new coins on the table, walked to Jia Xu, put them on his desk, then walked to the front of the hall with his hands behind his hands, looking up at the sky.
Jia Xu picked up the copper coin, weighed it, and said, "Three baht?" Then without waiting for Li Ru''s answer, he said to himself: "Let''s just make it two baht. Anyway, this way...hehehehe... If you want to do it, you might as well do more..."
??Li Ru turned around quickly and stared at Jia Xu: "...you mean...to drag us into the water together?"
"What else?" Jia Xu threw the small copper coins on the table, his voice was a little dull, "Tsk tsk...this material...do you want to carry such a big mess alone?"
??Li Ru frowned and thought for a while, then looked at Jia Xu, suddenly smiled and said, "Good!"
Jia Xu also laughed twice, and then said: "...Who are you going to let do this?"
??Li Ru raised the corners of his mouth slightly and said, "What do you think about letting Taifu Yuan do it?"
"That''s right!" Jia Xu laughed loudly, nodded repeatedly, then shook his head and said, "...but I''m afraid Taifu Yuan may not agree easily."
“I am about to die, either do it or die quickly, what is my choice?”
Jia Xu nodded and said, "Well, I don''t care about this... I will go back in two days. Is there anything else you want to give me, senior brother?"
??Li Ru thought for a while, picked up the wooden sign from the table, handed it to Jia Xu, and said, "You should take a detour to see someone...ask him what he can do about this situation, and help him by the way..."
“Senior brother, what do you mean…”
“I don’t mean anything, I just want to take a look.”
"...Ah, yes! Then, I''ll take my leave first..." Jia Xu put the wooden sign in his sleeve and stood up to leave.
??Li Ru glanced at the plate with a lot of beef left on the table, and said a little strangely: "...Hey, you have a bad appetite today? Do you want to take it away?"
Jia Xu walked slowly and staggeringly, waving his hands and saying: "What''s left for you...your body...should eat and drink. In this world...I have never seen a chess player get tired from playing chess." Damn..."
Li Ru was stunned, then smiled, picked up the chopsticks on the table, and picked up a piece of beef...
There is a view that the use of copper in ancient China was due to the lack of gold and silver, but this argument is not true. According to existing research results, there was a lot of gold and silver in ancient Chinese dynasties, and the gold reserves during the Han Dynasty were even greater than those in the ancient Roman Empire. So, what exactly causes the difference?
In ancient times, currency was a tool used by emperors and officials to maintain the operation of the dynasty and absorb private wealth.
First, since the Qin and Han dynasties, China has formed a unified national system integrating imperial power and autocracy. "Everything in the world is the land of the king; the shores of the land are the ministers of the king." In ancient times, there was no individual private property, and people did not form a sense of personal rights.
Second, Chinese emperors throughout the dynasties basically implemented the basic national policy of emphasizing agriculture and suppressing commerce, and basically maintained a natural economic state with relatively little trade.
These two points were reflected in currency, resulting in the following result: although currency was also used for trade and debt repayment, it was mainly used to maintain the operation of the dynasty.
This chapter says there is a word limit... I''ll put part of it in the next chapter...
(End of this chapter)