Chapter 741 People's Recognition

"Copper coins? What are copper coins? Are they also farm tools of your Han tribe?" The old man who came to exchange sickles asked in confusion.

Wen Xi's face twitched, and he resisted the urge to roll his eyes. He smiled and pulled a small basket on the table, pointing at the things inside.

"These golden copper pieces are the money of our Han tribe. Although they are not tools and cannot be destroyed, they can be used to trade goods. Any goods of the Han tribe can be exchanged with them. Of course, the corresponding quantity must be given." "

If I can't eat or drink, and can't make tools, then what's the use of it for me? Since you said that this money can be exchanged for other things, then just give me something directly. I don't want money."

The old man picked up a coin and looked at it in his hand. This thing was made quite delicately, with flowers on one side and a human head on the other side, and there were many small characters. Unfortunately, he didn't recognize many of them. He thought that one of them was the same as the flag hanging on the boat, and it should be the word "Han" of the Han tribe.

But this thing can't be eaten, drunk, or used. No matter how beautiful it is, it's useless in his hands, so he threw it back into the basket and asked Wen Xi to exchange it for something else.

Wen Xi was not in a hurry after the first promotion was rejected. Anyway, it was impossible to succeed right away. He smiled again and said,

"Okay, old man, I'll change it for you, but there are so many people waiting behind you to sell copper for iron. Otherwise, I'll give you the change with this copper coin first, and then let someone take you to see other goods in our Han tribe, so you can see what you can exchange for?"

"This"

The old man wanted to change it directly, but seeing that there were so many people behind him and the sun was about to make people faint, he couldn't insist, so he agreed. However, he was also worried that he was cheated. After getting the money that Wen Xi gave him, he immediately pestered the people on the Han tribe to exchange things for him.

The guys in the caravan naturally agreed and took the old man to pick other goods.

"Old man, please take a look. Our goods are all here. If there is anything you want, I will tell you the price and you can exchange it with the copper coins in your hand." The small flag officer of the Tiger Guard in plain clothes warmly entertained him.

"Okay, okay, let me take a look first, let me take a look first." The old man agreed and looked carefully.

Because of the transportation by ship, the caravan brought a wide range of goods this time, from pots and pans, scissors and cloth to needles and thread, shoe soles, paper patterns, expensive ones even including calcium carbide lamps, scales, printed calendars, and cheap ones such as chopsticks and wooden spoons.

The old man picked around and couldn't figure out what he wanted, so he asked his daughter-in-law and grandson to help choose and see what the family needed.

"How much is this needle?" The old man's daughter-in-law asked, squatting in front of the stall with the child.

"Short steel needles are one cent each, and long ones are two cents each. There are also boxes of ten needles in a box. How many do you want?" The caravan's clerk sat cross-legged on the mat of the stall to do business.

"You Han tribe don't come here often to sell things, so buy more. Give me five short ones and five long ones, but how much should I give you for this? How do I calculate this?" The woman asked in confusion.

"Five short ones, one cent each, a total of five cents, five long ones, two cents each, that's ten cents, so give me a total of ten cents and fifteen cents."

The woman turned to look at the old man holding the money, motioning him to pay, but the old man was also confused, looking at the big and small coins in his hand, he couldn't tell which was which.

"Young man, I can't read. How do I exchange this thing?"

"Hahaha, don't worry, old man. I'll teach you to recognize this money. The coins of our Han tribe are easy to recognize. Even if you can't read, you can tell which is which. Look, the one with a bundle of millet on the front, and it's the lightest and thinnest, is one cent. The one with a hat working in the field is two cents, and the one with a cow plowing the field is five cents.

The one with a horn one level bigger than it, and this one in two colors, with a horse printed on it is one cent, the one with a sheep printed on it is two cents, and the one with an eagle printed on it is five cents.

The things your daughter-in-law bought are a total of 10.5 cents, so you only need to give me the one with a horse printed on it, and one with a cow plowing the field." The waiter pointed to the patterns on the coins and introduced them to several people.

"I know it, I know it, Grandpa, let me help you find it." The little grandson beside him immediately became happy. Children like to play, and they like beautiful toys even more. This coin is exquisitely made, and there are various patterns on it, which is indeed easy for children to like.

The five or six-year-old child quickly picked out the coins with the patterns of oxen and horses from the coins in the old man's hand, and then looked at his grandfather with a smile, as if he was going to praise me quickly.

The old man naturally would not spoil the fun, and hurriedly praised him twice, and then gave the money to the caravan clerk.

The clerk took the money, took out a small bamboo tube with a stopper, put all the ten needles the woman wanted into it, and then began to introduce the price to others.

As the copper and iron transactions went on on the other side, a large number of people who got copper coins for change also gathered in front of the grocery stalls, constantly asking the caravan clerks about the prices of various commodities, and transactions were also going on one after another.

The indigenous people here have a very fast understanding of coins, which has to be said about the patterns and bases that Luo Chong came up with at the beginning.

When the Han tribe first promoted currency, it was because most people were illiterate and could not distinguish the face value of the currency. Luo Chong came up with the idea of ​​using pictures instead of words. As long as you can see the picture on it, you can find the corresponding face value.

There is also a decimal currency system. For illiterate people who are not good at arithmetic, this system that can use ten fingers as counting rods is very helpful for calculation.

Even the people of the Han tribe, not to mention when currency was first promoted, even now, there are still many people who rely on the patterns on coins to identify the face value.

At this time, a man among the people who were buying things suddenly asked.

"Han envoy, I want to buy this iron pot, but I don’t have enough money, what should I do?"

"How much is short?" The guy who was selling things asked back.

"Lack, according to you, there is still a shortfall of 20 cents, what should I do?" The man asked a little worriedly.

He had already bought everything else and had almost spent all his money, but he still had some left and he was worried about keeping it. Looking at the caravan fellows cooking in an iron pot outside the shed, he suddenly wanted to use the remaining money to buy one. Unfortunately, the iron pot was too expensive and he still needed some money.

"It's two dimes short. How about this? Anyway, our caravan will stay here for a few days. You will be responsible for the firewood needed for cooking these days. I will give you five cents for a bunch of corn stalks. If you carry four bundles, I will give you two dimes. How about that?" The clerk thought about it and gave him an idea.

"Can you exchange money this way?!" The man said in surprise.

"That's right. In our Han tribe, all daily necessities can be traded with coins, except for firewood. We basically have enough, but sometimes we buy some." The clerk explained with a smile.

The man was very happy and agreed immediately. He hurried home to prepare firewood. He even planned to carry more. Maybe he could buy something else with some money.

The people who were buying things around were also very surprised. It was the first time they knew that money could be used in this way. Someone asked curiously.

"Han envoy, you said that this money can be exchanged for daily necessities, then can grain and salt be exchanged?"

"Of course it can be exchanged. In our Han tribe, different grains have different prices, and most of them are traded by weight or volume. Salt is also exchanged by weight. Firewood, ironware, and even hired workers, for example, if you want to find someone to help you do something, you also have to pay them with coins. Even vehicles and boats, as long as you have enough money, you can buy them." The waiter explained again.

And the people around who were buying things seemed to have opened a new door.

"It turns out that coins can be used in this way!"

Many people are only responsible for producing grain. If there is a lot of grain, they can naturally exchange it for something, but the value of grain is limited, and it can't be exchanged for many things. For example, a family wants to use grain to exchange two sheep, but the price of grain is not enough, so they can only give up.

But in the Han tribe, if you encounter this situation, you can sell the grain and exchange it for money. If one year is not enough, you can save it for two years. If two years are not enough, you can save it for three years. Anyway, money will not go bad and will not depreciate. But if you keep a pile of corn at home, you will definitely not be able to save it for three years. If you exchange it all for money, you will eventually save enough money to buy things.

Some people were inspired by the man just now and also thought about whether they could get some things to the caravan to exchange for some money. He liked the plow cart used by the Han tribe for sowing, but he didn't have much money left, and all the copper utensils at home had just been replaced with iron utensils, so he asked the waiter.

"Han envoy, I want to buy a plow cart, but I don't have enough money. I wonder if you need anything else. If I have it, I want to exchange it for some money."

The clerk looked at him with a smile, thought for a while and said, "How about this, there are more than 50 people here, and we need to eat a lot of food in three days. We have enough food here, but there is not much meat. You can go and see if there are any chickens, ducks, meat, eggs and other food. Bring them here and we will exchange them for money for you."

"This can also be exchanged for money? Okay, wait, I'll find it for you."

So another person left the market on the shore and rushed back home, but his family couldn't afford much meat, so he simply got some food from his neighbors to exchange for some meat, eggs and the like, and then put the meat in a bamboo basket to exchange with the Han tribe.

The caravan also traded with him at a similar price, and the man finally got the plow cart he wanted.

After this operation, the indigenous people realized the convenience of currency. The best thing about this thing is that it can maintain its value and will not go bad. Then it is convenient for trading. The transactions that could not be done before were finally done because of the intermediate medium of currency, because no matter what you want to sell or buy, you can first exchange it into currency, and then use the currency to exchange for what you want.

Moreover, this thing can be flexibly split. No matter what the price is, there is a corresponding currency to pay. It is indeed a good thing.

Unfortunately, because this thing was launched by the Han tribe, although the indigenous people liked it very much, they did not keep much in their hands. Only a few people kept some in their hands as a thought, or used it to maintain value. Most of the others directly exchanged it for the goods they wanted.

Of course, this is also because the Han tribe did not stay in various places on Zhudao for a long time. Even if they wanted to keep the money, your Han tribe’s caravan is not always here, nor does it come every fixed number of days. They just want to exchange things, but they can’t find anyone, so naturally they are unwilling to keep this thing in their hands.

However, after watching for a few days, the elders of this village had a lot of feelings about the use of currency. After all, old people are wise, so they listened to him and went to Wen Xi to ask.

"Han envoy, can we use this currency when we trade, or can we only exchange it for things in the Han tribe?"

"Haha, currency itself is valuable, old man, this is all made of good copper, so it can naturally be used for mutual trading.

But if you use it yourself, you should still be honest, and never drive up prices or refuse to accept or pay. Money is a credit thing. In our Han tribe, it is maintained and guaranteed by the tribal government and Han laws, but in your Zhudao, it depends on you to guarantee it. Do you understand what I mean?" Wen Xi smiled first, and then explained earnestly.

"Well, I don't quite understand. May I ask the Han envoy, what is this credit? What about refusing to accept or pay?" The old man asked a little confused.

"Here, let me give you an example. For example, if you have money and want to buy some food from others, they will sell it to you, and the money will go to them. But when they come to you with the money to buy food, you don't recognize the currency and refuse to accept it. When they buy things, they also refuse to accept the currency. Then do you think the currency is still useful?" Wen Xi reminded him meaningfully.

"Oh, I see."

"Yes, in our Han tribe, these things are all based on laws. Whether it is destroying coins, refusing to accept or refusing to pay, robbing coins, stealing coins, or minting coins privately, they are all serious crimes. If you are caught, you will be severely punished. The punishment ranges from labor reform to corporal punishment, and even beheading. With the endorsement of the entire tribe, this currency system is as solid as a rock." Wen Xi once again introduced the currency system of the Han tribe and the various severe punishments.

"So that's how it is. The Han tribe is really advanced and powerful. Not only are the craftsmen skilled, but the tribal system is also perfect. It's really fascinating!

But Han envoy, I have an idea. I wonder if it will work?"

"Please tell me, old man."

The village elder stroked his goatee and suddenly proposed to raise some things the Han tribe needed, and then exchange them for money and some common supplies. He would open a store in the village to provide convenience to the villagers, and at the same time, his family could make some money.

"This is of course a good thing, but isn't the old man worried about the problems I just mentioned? If the caravan leaves, no one can constrain the currency rules?" Wen Xi asked with a smile. He had said it so clearly just now. Could it be that the old man didn't understand?

"Don't worry, Han envoy. I dare not say it in other places, but in this village, no one dares to disobey what I say. Although we don't have Han laws here, we also have clan rules." The old man said proudly with a confident look on his face.

"Ah?! Hahahahaha, good, a good clan rule, the old man is really bold." Wen Xi couldn't help laughing when he heard it.

(End of this chapter)