Chapter 277 The Function of Coins
What are coins used for?
Of course, it is used as a general equivalent in trade to facilitate people's trade. Without coins, people's trade will become barter, which becomes extremely inconvenient.
For example, passerby A wants to buy a bag of rice, but he only has a bunch of radishes in his hand, while passerby B, who is selling rice at the market, does not need radishes, but a bunch of cabbage, and in the market The passerby C who sells cabbage in the market does not need rice but wants a bag of salt. The passerby D who has salt in his hand does not need cabbage but wants a bunch of radishes.
Then passerby A who wants to buy rice must first exchange his radish for passerby Ding’s for salt, then use the salt to exchange for the cabbage in passerby C’s hand, and finally take the cabbage to passerby B’s to exchange for it. rice.
A set of processes is time-consuming and labor-intensive, and this is a model between four people. If there are more people and want to get more items, it will be more cumbersome.
Coins have effectively simplified this tedious process. With them, you can buy both rice and radishes.
Although they did not know the term "general equivalent", the Qin ministers in the palace knew the function of coins. However, when this person asked them this question, it was definitely not that simple.
Before any of them answered, Li Nian answered by himself: "The essence of coins is general equivalents, and its main function is to facilitate people's transactions."
After asking and answering questions, Li Nian answered again A question was raised: "Are coins themselves wealth?"
Generals like Wang Jian and Wang Ben didn't think deeply about this issue, but people like Wang Wan and Li Si still thought about it.
After thinking for a while, Li Si replied: "Coins themselves are not actually wealth. They are often considered wealth because they can buy various things."
Li Nian nodded. Said: "That's it. Money itself is not equivalent to wealth, but because it can buy firewood, rice, oil, salt, cars, horses and houses, so It is often regarded as wealth. "
"Those rich people hoard large amounts of money at home as their wealth, but in fact they are hoarding things that money can buy."
After hearing this, everyone already understood why Li Nian wanted the Xiongnu and Baiyue to use Qin coins in their trade.
In this way, the actual goods in the hands of the Huns and Baiyue people can be turned into coins of the Qin Dynasty, such as the cattle and sheep they raised, the medicinal materials they collected, and the cloth they woven... They were all real things in the past, but now they are During the transaction, they were gradually exchanged for Da Qin coins.
As for coins, you can neither eat nor drink them. You need to use them to buy things before you can eat or drink. Then Da Qin will only have to reduce the purchasing power of coins...
And this Another wonderful thing about the idea is that the real wealth in the hands of the Huns and Baiyue people will be concentrated in Da Qin. To put it simply, the cattle and sheep herded by the Huns and the medicinal materials mined by the Baiyue people would continue to flow to Daqin in trade, and what they got were coins.
Da Qin recognizes the purchasing power of coins, and their wealth can be guaranteed. However, if Da Qin does not recognize coins by then, their wealth will be wiped out in an instant.
Everyone's eyes changed when they looked at Li Nian. Although Li Shangshu was young, his methods were indeed insidious and clever.
But it has to be said that Li Nian's method opened up a new way of thinking for them. In this way, they can relieve the troubles of the wealthy merchants in Daqin, such as Ba Widow Qing, Wushi Luo... and issue a new currency to replace the old one. For coins, old money will be exchanged for new money nationwide within a time limit, and old money will be invalidated when it expires. There will be a limit on the amount of old money that can be exchanged for each person and household. After reaching a certain amount, a certain tax will need to be paid.
In this way, the assets accumulated by those wealthy businessmen can be reduced, and at the same time, their assets can be filled into the imperial court. It is wonderful to achieve multiple benefits in one fell swoop.
It turns out that governing the country can still be done like this. Some people have already begun to conceive of such plans in their minds, but Li Nian said that this is not to attack the wealthy businessmen in the Qin Dynasty. He is targeting other countries, and money can affect them. It's not just what the ministers think.
Li Nian smiled and said: "As I said just now, coins themselves are not equivalent to wealth. After trading with Da Qin, the Xiongnu Chanyu and Baiyue leaders would hoard a large amount of Da Qin coins. These coins, Da Qin If you admit it, they are useful and they are indeed wealth, but if Da Qin does not admit it, they will be just a pile of scrap copper.”
"Moreover, not only the wealth of the Xiongnu and Baiyue senior officials will turn into scrap copper overnight, but also the wealth of the Xiongnu and Baiyue civilians. Your Majesty and everyone, can you imagine what will happen?"
The First Emperor and The ministers in the palace followed Li Nian's questions and thought, deduced the simulation in their minds, and came to a conclusion that surprised them: if that happened, the Xiongnu and Baiyue would be in chaos.
When coins turn into a pile of scrap copper, it is not just as simple as the loss of wealth overnight. It also means that they cannot buy food, clothing, military pay, and medical care. You can imagine what people will do when their needs are not guaranteed.
Of course, this is ancient times, not modern times. This situation may not necessarily be a fatal blow to the Huns and Baiyue.
“It seems that His Majesty and you have already thought of it, but in non-emergency situations, it is not recommended to do this, because it will damage the country’s credibility and is not conducive to Da Qin’s coins becoming a world currency and establishing Da Qin’s monetary hegemony.”
There are new words again, "national credibility", "world currency", "monetary hegemony". I know the meaning of each word, but I don't understand the function of their combination.
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Li Nian explained: "Not only do Da Qin coins have to circulate within Da Qin, it is best to make them into coins that are accepted and used by all countries, so that all countries use Da Qin coins in transactions."
"Well, you should have guessed some of the reasons. It can be convenient to compare other countries The real wealth is concentrated in Da Qin..."
"Coins themselves cannot buy food, drink, housing and transportation, but they can be bought. Using Da Qin's coins to gather food, drink, housing and transportation from all over the world in Da Qin, all you have to pay is one. Do you think it’s a good deal to pile up coins that can’t be used to eat or drink?”
Of course this is cost-effective, how could it not be cost-effective? Some people have begun to understand Li Nian's true intention, which is to use coins as a rope for the Qin Dynasty to tie other countries into it, harming the interests of other countries and enriching the Qin Dynasty, and using other countries to support the Qin Dynasty.
As the common currency of all countries, the coins of Great Qin can buy the goods of other countries. Doesn’t it mean that Great Qin only needs to mint more coins to harvest the hard work of all countries? Those supplies are simply terrifying.
Everyone took a breath of cold air. There is actually such a way to restrict countries in the world. But after thinking about it carefully, it seems that this method is indeed possible.
Ying Zheng even thought in his mind, could it be said that in later generations, there will be countries that use this method to harvest the countries of later generations? Is this country or some other country in the West?
(End of this chapter)