Rome must fall.

Chapter 359 Exchange House and Bank

"Yes, Chief!" Everyone concentrated their energy and responded respectfully.

Maximus said in a gentle tone: "After the banknotes are made, we need to consider how to distribute them so that the tribesmen are happy to use them. After all, many of them are used to buying things with gold and silver, and some tribesmen from other mountain tribes are more willing to barter. They will inevitably doubt whether such a light piece of paper money can really be exchanged for a chicken? A sheep? A cow? ...

Capitoti’s suggestion was very good. We can first replace the wheat previously distributed to tribal officials with paper money as their monthly salary. At the same time, we should tell all the shops in the markets to allow the tribesmen to use paper money to purchase goods. I believe that under the leadership of the officials, ordinary tribesmen will soon discover the benefits of using paper money to buy things—"

"Chief, even if ordinary people are happy to use paper money, they cannot get paper money through salary like officials. Do we have to distribute it directly to them?" Pigris asked.

"After the banknotes are made, they are no longer paper, but money. Each one represents wealth, so of course they cannot be distributed to ordinary people for free."

Maximus said seriously: "We can set up an exchange office in each market, which will be managed by the Ministry of Finance. Many city-states in the Mediterranean have exchange offices, which are used to exchange gold and silver coins. The exchange office we want to build will allow ordinary people to use their wheat to exchange for banknotes issued by the tribe. Then ordinary people can use the exchanged banknotes to buy things in the market."

"The idea the leader proposed is great! Our Finance Department will definitely manage the exchange office well!" Cornelius was excited about the new right his department had acquired.

He then asked, "When the tribesmen pay taxes, can we also let them pay with paper money? This will also save a lot of manpower in our finance department."

"Land tax must not be paid in paper money, it must be paid in the form of grain and other crops!" Maximus said in a firm tone, because he knew very well that food is the basis for the survival of a tribe. With enough food reserves, they will not panic when encountering difficulties.

Then Maximus softened his tone and said, "As for commercial taxes, they can be paid in paper money."

The Nix tribe was established almost two years ago, and the trade in the market has become quite active. However, the tribal government receives very little commercial tax, because most of the shops in the market belong to the tribe, and the wheat earned from the sale of goods belongs to the Finance Department, so there is no such thing as commercial tax.

Cornelius did not dare to argue and responded politely, "Yes, chief."

"In addition, we have to establish an important institution - a bank!" Maximus said emphatically: "The bank is very important. It is an institution specifically responsible for managing currency.

How much grain our tribe produces each year, how much goods it manufactures, how the goods circulate in the market... these are all counted by the bank, and the amount of currency to be issued is decided based on the statistical data.

The bank also needs to regularly investigate the trade situation within the tribe. If it finds that there are too many banknotes and the prices of goods are too high, it will need to recall some of the banknotes; if it finds that there are too few banknotes and the prices of goods are too low, it will need to issue more currency.

In short, the bank must always keep an eye on the tribe's trade to ensure that the banknotes are always valuable and can always buy good things at corresponding prices! I propose that the bank be placed under the Ministry of Finance, and that the head of the bank be temporarily served by Magus, the deputy director of the Ministry of Finance!"

Although Magus is young, he has been conscientious and responsible since he took charge of the tribal treasury, and has not made any mistakes. Moreover, the work of the finance department has also prompted him to take out his free time to study harder in school. According to Kefisofon, Magus's arithmetic level is now among the best among students.

It was because of Magus' outstanding performance that Maximus decided to give him more responsibilities.

None of the department heads expressed any objection. In fact, they were all immersed in the new terms and novel and profound monetary theories uttered by Maximus, and did not notice the importance of the bank to the tribe.

Pigris couldn't help but ask: "Chief, we have so many complicated issues to consider when using paper money, but when everyone used gold and silver coins before, it seemed that no city-state did these things."

"It's not that these city-states didn't do it, but they didn't know that the use of currency in a city-state or a kingdom requires deep knowledge of currency and strict supervision! They thought that gold and silver were wealth, and as long as they obtained more and more gold and silver, the city-state would become stronger and stronger."

Maximus smiled contemptuously: "Is that really the case? The most typical example is Rome! After Rome became powerful, it continued to conquer other city-states and kingdoms. At the same time, it continuously obtained large amounts of gold and silver from these conquered areas and transported them back to Rome, resulting in an increasing amount of gold and silver in Rome and even in the entire Italy. However, the amount of crops harvested and the amount of various goods manufactured in Italy each year remained basically unchanged. What phenomenon did this lead to?"

Pigris' eyes lit up: "...Well, it should be that there are too many gold and silver coins, which makes the prices of goods in the market more expensive!" "Yes, as I said before, the currency has depreciated."

Maximus looked at Quintus, Cornelius and the others, and said in a deep voice: "Moreover, since most of the gold and silver obtained by the Roman army from the conquered areas flowed into the hands of Roman elders and nobles, the rise in prices of goods in Italy has little impact on them. For ordinary civilians, it will make their lives more difficult, so it is inevitable that a large number of civilians will go bankrupt-"

"So that's how it is! I was wondering why the price of farm tools became more and more expensive over the years, and the cost of buying oxen increased several times. It turns out that it was the work of the Roman Senate!" Cornelius said hatefully.

"Yes, the prices of goods in the market have skyrocketed, and we have spent all the money we have saved with great difficulty. The Roman nobles are using cheap crops produced in large estates to make it impossible for us to sell the grain we have harvested with great difficulty. It would be strange if we don't go bankrupt!" Quintus was also filled with anger for a rare time. His repeated failures in farming business in the past had become a thorn in his heart.

Capito, on the other hand, looked relatively calm; the Knyx tribe provided him with a broad space to display his talents, and he had long since put his tragic past behind him.

"Chief, before the silver mines in Athens were exhausted, they minted a large number of silver coins. Why didn't they have a situation where the prices of goods were too high and people had a hard time living because there were too many coins?" Kephisophon, a Greek, asked with some confusion.

Maximus didn’t expect Kephisophon to ask such a question. He thought about it carefully and said, “Well…Athens was once not only the overlord of the Eastern Mediterranean, but also the commercial center of the Mediterranean.

Many of the goods it produced could be sold to various city-states in the Mediterranean. Other city-states also shipped a large amount of goods to Athens for sale. In addition, because Athens' silver coins were exquisitely made and had a high silver content, merchants from other city-states were happy to exchange them for them. Athens' silver coins were consumed in large quantities in the prosperous foreign trade, so how could there be too many of them? "

Kephisophon fell into deep thought.

Maximus went on to say: "Athens' position as a trade center in the eastern Mediterranean is enviable. They can use as many silver coins as they want without worrying about them becoming worthless. This is something our Nix tribe cannot match.

For a long time to come, the issuance and use of our paper money will be limited to our tribe, and trade with the Ardi tribe and other tribes will still be done through barter or purchases with gold and silver coins."

Pigris opened his mouth but ultimately said nothing. He understood that the chief was so conservative about the use of paper money out of concern for the safety of the tribe.

Maximus noticed everyone's expressions and said, "Tomorrow we will hold a special meeting to discuss the issue of paper money. Officials above level 3 from the Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of Finance, and the Ministry of Justice will attend. Tolmius, the head of the papermaking workshop, must also attend.

We will have a more detailed discussion on the production of banknotes, the design of patterns, the size of face value, the number of banknotes, the establishment of banks and exchange offices, the supervision of the circulation of banknotes, etc., and formulate a series of plans for the production and issuance of banknotes, as well as systems and laws to ensure the smooth operation of banknotes in the tribe. I believe——"

Maximus suddenly raised his voice and said passionately: "In the entire Mediterranean, no city-state or kingdom has such a profound understanding of the use of currency as Knicks! No city-state or kingdom can use lighter and more convenient paper money like Knicks!
As long as our departments strictly supervise the operation of paper money, paper money will definitely greatly promote the prosperity of Nix's commerce and trade, allowing the tribe to have stronger strength for expansion. One day, it will become as rich as Athens and as powerful as Rome! "

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On this day, the sky was high and the clouds were light, with a strong south wind blowing. A fleet was sailing upstream along the Sava River.

Standing on the bow of the first ship was Alakosia, the adjutant of the Nix Tribe's Ministry of Commerce. He held the railing and looked toward the shore: Nix infantry centuries were marching towards the villages on both sides of the river, and behind these teams were the people of Segestica, carrying the elderly and children, following closely. Their faces no longer had the fear they had when they fled, but instead showed the stability under the protection of force, and the hope of rebuilding their homes...

This war came so quickly, and ended so quickly! ... Alakosia sighed in his heart.

The Nix envoys sent to the northern border a few days ago reported back that the defeated Yapod people quickly signed a ceasefire agreement and expressed their willingness to have friendly exchanges after receiving the olive branch extended by the Nix tribe.

(End of this chapter)