The first thousand five hundred and thirty-two thoughts on the gold standard
Now that he had decided to implement the gold standard, Liu Che had to take stock of his family's financial situation.
"Shang Shucheng..." Liu Che called Yan Yi and told him: "Please go to the Shaofu and ask how much gold reserves there are in the inner treasury?"
"No!" Yan Yi took the order and left. Half an hour later, he came back and reported: "Your Majesty, the young master reported that there are currently 354,323 gold in the internal treasury..."
Liu Che was stunned for a moment and then smacked his lips: "That's quite a lot!"
A lot indeed!
Three hundred and fifty thousand gold, converted into weight in later generations, is about 170 tons.
Many modern countries in later generations may not have such large gold reserves!
This fully shows that Liu Che, the emperor, had a knack for amassing money.
Not to mention, when the four kings of Qi and Lu fell, they contributed more than 150,000 gold to the inner treasury!
Moreover, Liu Che currently has more than just this little gold.
He clapped his hands, called a eunuch over, and asked: "How much gold reserves are there in the palace now?"
"Reporting to Your Majesty, there should be about three hundred thousand gold..."
This is almost another hundred tons of gold.
If you include other scattered gold reserves (the palace concubines and the Eastern Palace reserves), Liu Che can probably put out more than 300 tons of gold now.
The total amount may be close to 800,000 gold!
Being able to save so much gold is partly thanks to corrupt officials and rebellious officials and traitors.
Without them, Liu Che's gold reserves would have been reduced by at least one-third.
On the other hand, it was thanks to Anton's gold rush.
The gold rush in Anton injected one hundred thousand gold into the entire Han Dynasty every year.
Especially in the past two years, gold mining technology has begun to improve, which has greatly increased gold production. Sometimes 20,000 to 30,000 gold can be mined in a month.
Anton's gold, coupled with the fact that China originally had a large number of rich gold mines during this period, the gold stock increased greatly.
You have to know that in history, during the forty years of Emperor Wu's reign, the amount of gold awarded to generals and soldiers has exceeded 800,000 gold!
The total amount of gold buried with Maoling was as much as 400,000 gold!
It’s simply terrifying!
In comparison, although Liu Che currently has a lot of gold in his hands, in general, the amount of gold held by private citizens and private individuals is still quite large.
"Almost 750,000 gold..." Liu Che calculated the gold he could use now.
At least 200,000 gold should be left in the internal treasury as a reserve fund to prevent the country from running out of money when an emergency problem arises.
In this way, the gold that can be used for the gold standard reform is 600,000 gold.
Judging from Shaofu's past experience in casting gold and five bahts, on average one gold coin can be minted from about ninety-five to one hundred (one pound sixteen taels, one tael twenty-four bahts). In theory, pure gold coins can only be cast at most
Seventy-six pieces were minted, but the country is not so pure, cute, silly and sweet. It is normal for valuables such as five baht to be mixed with lead, iron and gold.)
In other words, 600,000 gold can be cast into more than 60 million gold baht under the best circumstances.
Worth over six hundred million.
If put into the market, it can basically make up for the problem caused by the shortage of coins.
If the gold standard system of later generations is adopted, the role of these golds can be amplified at least five times!
But the problem is...
Liu Che has been brewing the gold standard system for several years, but so far, the conditions are still somewhat immature.
First of all, the gold standard system has to consider the issue of credit.
The second question is whether the people accept it? Do they approve it?
If any currency is not accepted or recognized by the people, it is no different from waste paper!
Finally, there is the issue of anti-counterfeiting technology.
Nowadays, there is no printing technology as advanced as that of later generations, nor is there any superb anti-counterfeiting technology.
If a currency made of paper or other materials is issued rashly, it is very likely that the only result will be a proliferation of counterfeit currency, and both the country and the people will suffer catastrophic consequences.
This is not something that can be solved by just crossing the river by feeling the stones and paying some tuition fees.
"It seems that for the time being, we can only imitate the tiger charm system as an anti-counterfeiting method for currency..." Liu Che sighed, touched his forehead, and then shook his head, rejecting the idea.
The so-called tiger talisman system adopts the current military tiger talisman anti-counterfeiting technology.
Divide a certain vessel into two halves, leaving half with the state and half with the holder.
Only when the two are combined into one can it be legal and valid, otherwise it will not be recognized.
Doing so can indeed effectively prevent counterfeiting and eliminate fraud.
But it is not conducive to circulation, and it can only be used for large transactions.
You can't do it. If you have one gold and two gold, you should use this method, right?
Then the relevant staff and government officials must be busy to death?
Anything that cannot be circulated and is troublesome has no future.
After all, the gold standard is a social financial system, not something for a small circle to entertain themselves.
If this is the case, wouldn't there be an "Edict to bestow gold" and an "Edict to deposit gold" among the nobles, princes, and kings now?
Why bother playing with the gold standard?
"What about a situation similar to Jiaozi's?" Liu Che thought.
During the renovation process of Chang'an in the sixth year of Yuande's reign, certificates similar to Jiaozi's had already appeared in order to bid for shops.
Up to now, under Liu Che's guarantee and promotion, this voucher system has gradually become a credit voucher recognized by big merchants.
Many people choose to deposit a large amount of money in the Shaofu, and then get a voucher from the Shaofu jointly issued by the Shaofu Minister and the Prime Minister's Office.
Once you need to withdraw money, you can use this voucher to withdraw cash from the Shaofu.
This voucher can also be used directly to offset taxes.
Because it is convenient and flexible, it is welcomed by many people.
Many people even regard it as a means to flatter the royal family.
But again, this kind of certificate has many problems, and it is actually difficult to circulate it widely.
Unless it is improved and made into a paper credit currency similar to Jiaozi.
"It seems that I can only turn to the Mohists for help..." Liu Che was thinking: "If it is necessary to issue a currency that can be widely circulated in a large area, at least among the middle and upper classes, then two problems must be solved.
…”
"The first is anti-counterfeiting, and the second is simplicity and high recognition!"
Currency that cannot be counterfeited is a disaster, and things like the Tiger Talisman system and the current mortgage certificate are too complicated and the process is too cumbersome.
It is impossible for the people to accept and recognize similar products.
Just like Alipay and WeChat Pay in later generations.
If you make a payment, you need to communicate with the bank first, then prove to the bank that it is you, and finally you need to sign a lot of documents.
Who will use it?
Anyway, most people are absolutely too lazy to do such complicated things and just pay in cash.
And in this world, the only ones who might be able to help Liu Che solve these two problems are the technical geeks of the Mohist family.
