Chapter 637 Monetary System, Underworld Reform
Senior Sister Zhang, seeing the Nine Nether Emperor deep in thought, continued to explain Zheng Fa's ideas:
The Nine Mountains Sect, no, the entire Xuanwei Bitter Spirit Stone Sect, has been here for a long time!
From the moment Zheng Fa entered the world of cultivation, he discovered that Xuanwei's monetary system was a complete mess.
Even the lowest-ranking cultivators still use ordinary gold.
The middle level started using spirit stones, but at the higher levels, and even between sects, it was more about bartering.
Essentially, these are the various unavoidable measures taken by monks to solve the currency problem.
In his early years, Zheng Fa didn't care much about currency, but after he took over the Nine Mountains Sect, he had to think about it and found it increasingly troublesome.
According to Zheng Fa's current understanding, currency, as a general equivalent, is essentially a debt claim—if you have currency, you can exchange it for corresponding resources from other people.
This leads to several core issues that need to be addressed regarding currency itself.
The first is value stability—nobody wants to receive less in return.
The second is acceptance—otherwise, it will be troublesome if others are unwilling to switch to you.
Thirdly, it's durable and easy to store; you'll regret it if it spoils.
From these three points, several other requirements can be derived: the currency must be scarce and portable.
Ideally, it should also be divisible—having various denominations so it can be used in all transaction scenarios.
In this respect, both spirit stones and gold do have their advantages.
Although gold is not very useful to cultivators, it is widely used in the mortal world and is not actually in short supply. It is also quite durable and easy to preserve.
The biggest problem lies in the stability of value, or rather, its scarcity—cultivators can turn lead into gold.
If everyone can print money, who can withstand that?
On the other hand, monks are not particularly interested in gold.
It is precisely because of this that gold is difficult to exchange for spiritual materials. Fortunately, this has ensured that high-level cultivators do not indiscriminately produce gold, allowing gold to still play a role in the immortal sects.
Compared to gold, spirit stones are naturally better.
Unlike other spiritual materials, this thing does not easily dissipate its spiritual energy, a fact that cultivators also acknowledge.
The most important advantage is that even the Nine Mountains Sect, which possesses the technology to transform spiritual materials, cannot produce this thing, making it difficult to distribute indiscriminately.
Conversely, this thing is extremely rare, not only because of its low production, but also because spirit stones are incredibly useful.
Not only can they be used to assist in cultivation, but they can also be used to set up formations. For example, in the Nine Mountains Sect, spirit stones are used for various formations, and the daily consumption is enormous.
Before the discovery of spirit stones in the River of Oblivion, the value of spirit stones in the entire Xuanwei Realm was actually skyrocketing—it even felt like deflation.
The spiritual stones at the bottom of the River of Oblivion can certainly alleviate this problem, but their very usefulness fundamentally determines that they are not very suitable as currency.
Another problem is that spirit stones are difficult to divide further—the lowest grade is only one low-grade spirit stone, making them difficult to use for small-scale transactions.
Because of the small quantity, it is difficult to meet the needs of large-scale transactions.
Because it is difficult to divide, it cannot meet the needs of daily transactions.
This has led to the awkward position of spirit stones – they're not very useful, and it's difficult to find a replacement, so we just have to make do with them.
...
After listening to Senior Sister Zhang's explanation, Emperor Jiuyou was greatly shocked, as if he had been taught a lesson. He was in a daze for a long time before shaking his head to regain his senses and asking, "So the Nine Mountain Coins you mentioned can solve this problem?"
Senior Sister Zhang said, "Our Nine Mountains Sect's merits... Junior Brother used a term to describe them, called 'work points'."
"Work points?"
"This is actually a measure of the value of the disciples' labor within the sect, which is very useful within the Nine Mountains Sect," Senior Sister Zhang explained. "Every year, we will determine the amount of merit points for the following year based on the previous year's production situation and financial surplus, so as to maintain its relatively stable value."
"The sect is quite accepting of good deeds, and they also trade good deeds among themselves."
"So we say that we already have our own alternative currency, and it has even been operating for a while now, and things are going quite well."
Senior Sister Zhang explained.
The meaning of this statement is quite clear: Zheng Fa and his group did not set up this Heaven and Earth Bank on a whim, but rather had planned it for a long time, and were even confident that it would be more effective than spirit stones.
"But this system works fine within the sect; it would be a huge problem to promote it elsewhere."
"Others don't recognize it."
Emperor Jiuyou immediately said.
“That’s right,” Senior Sister Zhang nodded. “That’s why we need a Heaven and Earth Bank… and even to link the Nine Mountain Coins with spirit stones.”
"We need to convince all cultivators that Nine Mountain Coins can be exchanged for spirit stones at any Heavenly Bank."
After thinking for a long time, the Nine Nether Emperor clapped his hands and said, "In this way, the problem of spirit stones being too useful and difficult to divide is solved."
Senior Sister Zhang laughed: "What the Emperor said is exactly what we were thinking."
"This is a good thing for all realms!"
"Actually, the biggest benefit is that it can solve the financial problems of the Nine Mountains Sect."
"ah?"
“As I said before, currency is a kind of debt—that is to say, if the Nine Mountain Coin is widely adopted, we will be essentially borrowing money from all cultivators…”
"..."
The Nine Netherworld Emperor was dumbfounded.
"On the one hand, we can acquire resources almost out of thin air."
"..."
"On the other hand, if cultivators from all the heavens and myriad realms possessed the Nine Mountain Coins... would they want our Nine Mountain Sect to fall?"
Inside the hall, Emperor Jiuyou and Yan Changge stared blankly, imagining the scene based on Senior Sister Zhang's description, and felt a chill run down their spines.
"Did Zheng Fa come up with all of this?"
"Um."
The Nine Nether Emperor raised his head, let out a long breath, and his expression was very complicated.
"The Emperor?"
"Seeing how dark Zheng Faxin's skin is, I feel relieved."
"..."
The Nine Nether Emperor thought he had understood the Nine Mountain Coins, but after learning more about what they were, he felt confused again.
"You mean, there are no physical examples of Jiushan coins? Only the numbers recorded in this Zizhi Tongjian?"
"right!"
"You guys really don't want to spend any money at all..."
"That's not quite the case," Senior Sister Zhang explained. "The main reason is actually for anti-counterfeiting purposes."
"Anti-counterfeiting?"
"Any physical object is easy to be counterfeited."
The Nine Mountains Sect has a deep understanding of the cultivators' observation and manufacturing abilities.
Anti-counterfeiting is a major challenge.
Therefore, Zheng Fa simply chose the path of virtual currency.
"On the other hand, this model has many advantages."
"What?"
"This kind of transaction is very convenient. In our experiments, the money arrives instantly."
"On the other hand, we use an algorithm called blockchain, which is immutable and difficult to forge."
"What chain?"
Senior Sister Zhang began to explain: "This is a distributed ledger..."
Once she started talking about algorithms, she immediately became quite talkative.
The Nine Nether Emperor's expression was serious at first, then puzzled, and then completely blank.
He seemed to lose some confidence and looked at the others in the hall. He saw that Yan Changge and the others looked confused and immediately realized that the abnormal person in the hall was definitely not him!
"In other words, we now expect to ensure the security of each cultivator's Nine Mountain Coin account through three verification methods: account, key, and soul fluctuation." Senior Sister Zhang finished speaking with unfinished thought, then looked at Emperor Jiuyou and the others, "Did I make myself clear? Pretty simple, right?"
The people in the hall were silent for a moment, then nodded, their faces showing confident and knowing smiles.
"Would the Emperor be willing to help us establish this Heaven and Earth Bank?"
The Nine Nether Emperor became truly confident: "Oh? How can I help you? And what can I gain in return?"
"The most important thing for this system to be established is spirit stones. We need to stockpile a large number of spirit stones first."
"Therefore, all the spirit stones in the River of Oblivion must belong to the Heaven and Earth Bank."
The Nine Nether Emperor nodded without saying a word.
"As for what the Emperor will receive... we will build a Heavenly Evolution Array Plate for the Underworld."
"We will even be responsible for the subsequent operation, maintenance, and upgrades."
The Nine Nether Emperor's expression shifted slightly, and Senior Sister Zhang chuckled inwardly, clearly recognizing that these words had struck a nerve.
Senior Sister Zhang didn't say anything more.
"That's all?" Emperor Jiuyou and the others in the hall exchanged glances, all somewhat hesitant.
"Is there anything Your Majesty is dissatisfied with?"
"Can't we leave behind even a single spirit stone?"
Senior Sister Zhang said firmly, "All the resources in the Nine Mountains Immortal Court, including the Underworld and the River of Oblivion, belong to the entire Nine Mountains human race and are not the private property of the Underworld."
The Nine Nether Emperor fell silent, seemingly not expecting Senior Sister Zhang to be so assertive.
"Your Majesty, this is the 'Nine Mountains Fundamental Law,' there is no room for negotiation." Senior Sister Zhang looked at Emperor Jiuyou.
"..."
The faces of all the underworld beings in the hall looked rather unpleasant.
What they thought was getting rich overnight didn't seem to be as good as they imagined.
Senior Sister Zhang had no intention of backing down, which was also Zheng Fa's intention:
Even though the Nine Nether Emperor is one of their major backers.
But since the Celestial Court was established, it has its own rules.
The underworld should not be treated as a special entity.
Even if the Nine Nether Emperor was dissatisfied and refused, this was still unacceptable to Zheng Fa—if one could occupy more resources simply because of higher cultivation, what difference would there be between him and the original Xuanwei?
If the ideas of the people in the underworld are tolerated, the system of the celestial court will probably become a mere shell within a few generations.
"...I agree."
The Nine Nether Emperor suddenly spoke.
The Netherworld Immortal couldn't help but exclaim softly, "Your Majesty!"
"What, are you going to make me a person who breaks his word?" Emperor Jiuyou closed his eyes and said softly, "I also attended the general assembly of the Nine Mountains. I even voted in favor of the 'Fundamental Law of the Nine Mountains Immortal Court'."
...
"...The first Dean of the Divine Dao Oversight Council, the Nine Nether Emperor, with immense courage and his endorsement of the 'Fundamental Laws of the Nine Mountains Immortal Court,' approved the first-generation framework of the Heavenly Bank, a framework that has influenced countless realms for millions of years... The Heavenly Bank was not originally a weapon, but some historians believe that its power in the War of Unification of the Myriad Realms was even greater than that of the Immortal Slaughtering Sword Formation..."
—Excerpt from *The History of the Nine Mountains Immortal Court*, Volume One
...
After the agreement was reached, the next step was to deal with some details.
“Your Majesty, we need to accumulate some spirit stones as reserves to prevent a run on the bank,” Senior Sister Zhang explained. “On the other hand, the issuance of Nine Mountain Coins depends on the spirit stone reserves in the River of Oblivion and the difficulty of mining them. We need the help of the Underworld in this regard.”
The people in the underworld looked at each other, their expressions somewhat awkward.
Senior Sister Zhang's attitude was too forceful just now, shattering their dreams of getting rich overnight, so of course they weren't very motivated at the moment.
"As the supplier of spirit stones, we have also formulated wages and performance bonuses for the Underworld."
"..."
Yan Changge and the others became agitated.
When Senior Sister Zhang mentioned the salary and performance-based pay agreed upon by the Executive Yuan, even the Nine Nether Emperor was a little puzzled: "Why didn't you say that earlier?"
Yan Changge and the others looked somewhat embarrassed—the Nine Mountains Sect was indeed quite generous to them, much more tolerant than they had imagined.
Senior Sister Zhang glanced at these people and thought to herself that if she had brought up this condition earlier, they probably wouldn't be so happy.
on the other hand……
"Your Majesty, ownership is not up for discussion." Senior Sister Zhang's expression was very serious. "This is not a matter of interests, but a matter of principle."
"But we will certainly not overlook the contributions of everyone in the underworld."
"But it can only be salary and performance-based pay, not transactions."
Emperor Jiuyou nodded slowly, then thought about the rules about salary and performance that Senior Sister Zhang had mentioned earlier, and concluded: "In other words, the more spirit stones we hand over, the more Nine Mountain Coins we receive?"
"Exactly." Seeing that he understood, Senior Sister Zhang quickly asked, "Your Majesty, how many spirit stones are there in the River of Oblivion?"
The Nine Nether Emperor laughed: "You guessed correctly before, spirit stones come from the corpses of cultivators..."
"Of course, not just any cultivator can generate spirit stone mines. At the very least, one must be a Loose Immortal... Loose Immortals correspond to low-grade spirit stones, True Immortals to mid-grade, and only Golden Immortals can generate high-grade spirit stone mines..."
At this point, the Nine Nether Emperor laughed even more heartily:
“Originally, if Dao Fruits didn’t die, it would be very difficult for spirit stones to be produced in all the heavens and myriad realms… But since we established the Underworld, Dao Fruits can die, and even dozens of Golden Immortals have died…”
"In terms of quantity, the number of spirit stones in the River of Oblivion is now enormous, and it is even slowly increasing."
Senior Sister Zhang couldn't help but smile; this was definitely a good thing for the Nine Mountains Sect.
But problems still exist.
"What about mining?" Senior Sister Zhang followed up. "I heard from Uncle Pang that neither magical artifacts nor cultivators can rise from the River of Oblivion."
"Has the Emperor made any plans regarding mining?"
This is Senior Sister Zhang's second purpose in coming here—to research a mining method, and perhaps even establish a new project team.
The nature of the River of Oblivion is too unique, making its extraction extremely difficult, and even the Executive Yuan fears that the losses would outweigh the gains.
"I also have an idea." The Nine Nether Emperor seemed to have already explored the River of Oblivion. "I plan to use Yin Souls."
"A ghost?"
“Wandering spirits can roam freely in the River of Oblivion,” the Nine Nether Emperor explained. “They are also the only things that can move freely within the River of Oblivion.”
"Although the River of Oblivion also harms them somewhat, the Underworld has a way of nourishing the souls, so the shift change is not a big problem."
Senior Sister Zhang understood: "Does the Emperor mean to use Yin spirits to manually mine spirit stones?"
“Yes!” Emperor Jiuyou nodded. “Although it’s a bit slow, or rather, very slow, we’ve already tried it, and it’s still feasible…”
After thinking for a moment, he revealed all his thoughts: "Those benevolent souls from all the heavens and myriad realms can simply reincarnate."
“For those who have committed heinous crimes, I plan to have them mine spirit stones for us for a period of time first. Once that time is up, I will let them go to reincarnation to be free. This is partly a punishment and partly to create some value for us.”
...
"Isn't this like a labor camp?" Zheng Fa, deep within the chaos, had to admire the Nine Nether Emperor's creativity upon hearing his ideas. "Now we've truly met a living Yama..."
However, it must be said that the Nine Nether Emperor's idea is indeed very suitable for the needs of the Underworld.
Simply put, those who commit heinous crimes will be sentenced to a period of imprisonment, working on a sewing machine for hundreds or thousands of years.
In front of him, there was also someone in jail—Jellyfish.
(End of this chapter)
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