Xuande

Chapter 675 Economic Lightning Triple Whip

The general's money won an economic victory. Since then, in Jizhou, not only salt and Shu brocade can be bought with general's money, but also any commodity sold in the market.

Merchants, large and small, trust the General's Money far more than other local privately minted currencies.

The value of the general's coins is stable and does not fluctuate much, and you can buy the most important commodity-salt on a regular basis, so merchants in Jizhou soon followed the old path in the area west of Luoyang.

They habitually linked the currency value of the general coin with the value of the goods, stipulating how much general coin can be used to buy some daily commodities, and clearly marked the price.

The monetary trade system established by relying on general money gradually took shape in Jizhou.

Doing it this way is also very advantageous for the commodity economy, because ordinary people can use a certain amount of general money to buy a certain amount of goods stably for a long time.

However, if privately minted currency is used in other places, it must be changed according to the exchange ratio of privately minted currency to general money that often changes in the market.

Maybe this kind of privately minted currency is more valuable today, but tomorrow a scandal will break out, saying that this kind of privately minted currency does not contain enough copper, only the first batch is considered good money, and the rest are waste, so this privately minted currency The value of immediately plummeted.

This kind of thing has happened frequently in recent years.

You can buy it directly with general money, but you need to pay attention to specific changes when you use privately minted currency. The time cost during this period also invisibly pushes up people's transaction costs.

The things that hindered the development of the currency economy were solved by Liu Bei's general money. On this basis, the general money ushered in a brilliant victory.

At the moment when Man Chong proposed to Liu Bei to fully withdraw the coinage rights, the general currency was also fully circulated in Jizhou, and the general currency was fully circulated in the ten counties of Jizhou, and various goods have formed a fixed exchange ratio with the general currency in the market. .

In this way, it is not far from the established fact that the local county government and private individuals in Jizhou lost the right to mint coins.

At present, the market that Jiangjun Qian has not conquered is the four states in the Central Plains, Yangzhou, and Jingzhou.

But it should not be said that the four states of the Central Plains, Yangzhou, and Jingzhou are not completely immune to the influence of general money.

Although commodity trade is very difficult these days, it is unrealistic to say that there is no trade between regions at all.

At least, for things like Shu brocade, there is no geographical restriction. It is produced in Yizhou, but in the whole Han Dynasty and even in some surrounding countries, Shu brocade is well-known as a super high-quality luxury.

People in the Central Plains flock to it, and people in Yangzhou and Jingzhou cannot escape its charm. They would rather eat without meat than without clothes.

The full power of its production and sales is in the hands of Liu Bei.

want to?

Take the general's money to buy it.

No general money?
I have it, and I will exchange the valuable things with me, and I will exchange them for you.

The four prefectures of the Central Plains also began to promote the circulation of salt in Liangzhou to a limited extent because many of the vacancies that were vacated after the purge of the Modern Literature School and the slavery restriction were occupied by Liu Bei's cronies.

Moreover, as long as Liu Bei’s confidants and disciples, and counties and counties that are encouraged to serve as chief executives have private minting departments, they have stopped local private minting of coins according to Liu Bei’s request, and handed over all skilled craftsmen and production tools to the Liu Bei.

And these places also introduced Liangzhou salt salt production technology almost simultaneously, and the locally produced "Liangzhou fine salt" produced a severe impact on local salt households, and thus began the large-scale circulation of general coins.

In this process, because it is closer to Yizhou, Jingzhou was affected by the general money earlier than the four states in the Central Plains. The upper class in Jingzhou accepted the existence of the general money earlier, and has begun to actively use the general in some economic activities. money.

All in all, in addition to military coercion and political power seizure, Liu Bei also made a combination of economics.

Liangzhou salt, Shu brocade and general money, this is his economic tactic, his economic lightning triple whip, although it is two less than lightning five consecutive whips, but the effect may be much better than lightning five consecutive whips .

To be honest, the areas where Liu Bei's influence is the weakest in the territory of the Han Dynasty, and the areas least affected by Liu Bei's influence, are Jingzhou and Yangzhou.

Especially in Yangzhou, it was because of Jingzhou that he had access to the general's money, and thus had a slight connection with Liu Bei's power, and nothing else at all.

Liu Bei has no former disciples who held positions in Jingzhou and Yangzhou, and only the Gu family and the Lu family have some close relations with Liu Bei because of the existence of Gu Yong and Lu Kang.

But relying on these two families alone is obviously not enough.

Liu Bei's current political power is slowly infiltrating into the four states of the Central Plains, and Jingzhou and Yangzhou in the south of the Yangtze River still lack influence. Therefore, even if the slave restriction order is implemented, the four states of the Central Plains will be dealt with first, and the problems in the four states of the Central Plains will be dealt with. It's almost done, and then attack Jingzhou and Yangzhou.

The question raised by Man Chong is a problem that Liu Bei will have to solve sooner or later. However, this matter involves a wide range of issues, and there will be relatively great resistance when it is raised in an upright manner, so Liu Bei thinks it is better to directly cause the established facts.

Anyway, under his economic three axes, the local forces that can bear it have not yet been seen.

To counter Liu Bei's economic three-axes, we must either come up with better currency linked to more meaningful goods, or engage in counterfeit currency tactics.

It is very difficult to make higher-quality currency. Liu Bei’s currency is already very high-quality, unless it is made of pure copper, but pure copper is too soft. If it is used as currency, the loss rate will be very high, and the Han Empire is not a copper Too many countries to run out of.

It's also tough getting hooked up to more meaningful cargo.

The two strategically important national commodities, table salt and Shu brocade, have been completely controlled by Liu Bei, and they have been linked to the general's money.

Other strategically significant commodities that the Han Empire could still produce, and were not monopolized by the central government, were only steel.

But I'm sorry, although Liu Bei did not announce that steel and general money are linked, it is because general money has become the only currency in all areas within the radiation range of the steel system under his control.

People in those places not only use general money to buy ironware, but also use general money to buy other daily necessities such as grain and cloth. Other coins have been considered as low-quality currency with no reputation and have been virtually banned from circulation.

However, the general’s money has not covered the places in the past, and the tax barriers have not yet been broken. If the high-quality steel he owns is sold in those places, the price will be very high, so Liu Bei did not push his high-quality steel into those high-tariff areas at all.

Now the high tax has become an invisible wall, blocking the entry of high-quality steel. Once the tax barrier is broken, the high-quality and cheap steel will instantly overwhelm the low-quality steel in those high-tariff areas, forming an absolute advantage and quickly seizing the market.

The original interest groups will fall apart.

Their low-quality steel cannot compete with Liu Bei's high-quality steel, and it is not only low-quality, but also cannot be supplied in sufficient quantities. Farmers hate this situation.

So from the current point of view, Liu Bei does not think that there is any local force that can support the new currency to fight against his own general money. Give them ten years, and if they can accomplish one thing, Liu Bei will admit defeat.

So what are you worried about?

Let’s prepare for the creation of the current Zhongshutai.

(End of this chapter)