Qin Yuan spoke excitedly.
"My smart and beautiful wife is indeed worthy of her name. She actually thought of this."
Upon hearing this, Yan Jiaoran couldn't stop smiling and was extremely excited.
This bastard praised me, praised me!!!
He immediately said modestly: "Actually, I'm not really sure. I was shocked when I thought about it."
"After all, how can there be no difference between silver and food?"
"But according to the theory you have been talking about these days, my husband."
"After a large amount of silver poured into the Great Zhou, it did indeed cause this kind of dilemma."
"Thinking about it this way, eight million taels of silver a year doesn't seem like much. It's not worth it for the Great Zhou to send troops on a long expedition."
Qin Yuan smiled slightly and said calmly, "Madam, do you remember the reasons I mentioned at the beginning about choosing silver as currency?"
"If you think about it carefully, the answer has already been hidden there."
Yan Jiaoran briefly recalled and recounted:
"First of all, silver is corrosion-resistant and easy to preserve, and its soft texture makes it easy to cut."
"Secondly, although the Great Zhou's silver reserves are less than copper, they are much more than gold."
"Using silver as currency, you can cut and use small pieces of silver as small currency, and you can also mint silver ingots for large transactions."
"Then, the main instruments of trade between Great Zhou and its neighboring countries were gold and silver, which suggests that gold and silver themselves have high value..."
Talking and talking.
Yan Jiaoran suddenly shuddered and said in a tender voice, "Husband... I understand!"
"So my husband has already said that!"
"Don't blame me, my husband. It's my fault for not listening carefully. I shouldn't blame you."
Qin Yuan praised him: "The sage said, 'If you study without thinking, you will be lost.'"
"My lady, you have done very well to be able to think independently and not blindly believe what I say."
"Madam, please tell me what you have come up with."
Yan Jiaoran said with a smile.
"Silver can be used as currency for trade between the Great Zhou and its neighboring countries, which shows that silver itself has value."
"Eight million taels of silver each year can be spent in other countries!"
"Because they all recognize the value of silver."
"We can use readily available silver to trade for luxury goods from other countries without any concerns or concerns about affecting the finances of the Great Zhou or the lives of the people."
"Just spend the money and be done with it. After all, it's the neighboring countries that pay the bill, and other countries will think that the Great Zhou is fair and generous."
"In this way, wouldn't it be like Great Zhou is able to buy back all the good things from other countries without spending a penny?"
"And this happens every year. Then, the Great Zhou would have a large amount of wealth out of thin air and become wealthy."
Qin Yuan nodded repeatedly: "Yes, that's the truth."
Having received Qin Yuan's approval, Yan Jiaoran became more and more excited as she spoke, "But the food is not good enough."
"The grain yield per mu is fixed. If natural disasters or man-made disasters hit, Da Zhou won't even have enough to eat. How can we trade it with others?"
"Furthermore, if we levy taxes on grain, it would be quite troublesome to transport it, and it would also result in considerable losses, wasting the people's energy."
"It seems that it would be more appropriate to collect the tax in silver."
Seeing that his wife was feeling aroused, Qin Yuan also became interested and stopped hiding his feelings. He said:
"Yes, my lady, you are quite right."
"Since you've thought of this far, let me tell you something real."
"The real thing that can ensure the empire's hegemony lasts for a thousand years!"
"My lady, you must know that in this world, force is not the only means to conquer others."
"Husband, what do you mean?" Yan Jiaoran asked.
"currency!"
Qin Yuan said in a deep voice: "In the future, if the Great Zhou relies on the silver from the Japanese island to build a mature system of trade with other countries and controls the import and circulation of domestic silver."
"Silver can be used as an anchor and reserve to issue 'silver treasure notes'."
"Let the 'paper' printed by the Great Zhou Dynasty become the 'silver' recognized by other countries."
"Husband...wait...wait a minute!" Yan Jiaoran's head was buzzing.
silver?
Silver treasure notes?
How did it suddenly go from silver to paper?
Can this paper be used as silver flower?
What a joke!
Are the nations fools?
Yan Jiaoran was completely dumbfounded.
"What's wrong? What didn't you understand? Let me explain it to you in detail." Qin Yuan asked.
Yan Jiaoran asked in a muffled voice, "Husband, what is this 'Silver Treasure Note'? Why would anyone recognize this piece of paper?"
“This…”
Qin Yuan suddenly remembered that paper money had not yet appeared in the Great Zhou Dynasty and had no idea about it.
So, he explained, "My lady, an imperial edict is also paper. So what do you think is the difference between an imperial edict and paper?"
Yan Jiaoran thought for a moment and said, "Because the imperial edict is stamped with His Majesty's imperial seal, it represents the entire Great Zhou and His Majesty, and is supreme. No one can offend."
"That's right." Qin Yuan nodded and asked, "The same principle applies to 'Silver Treasure Notes'."
"Like an imperial edict, it's backed by the power of the Great Zhou. With this piece of 'paper,' you can exchange it for silver at a place designated by the Great Zhou."
"Then the paper will have value."
Yan Jiaoran was stunned when she heard this.
Is this okay?
Is this an idea that a human could come up with?
She already understood what Qin Yuan meant.
It is like an imperial edict, using the national strength and reputation of the entire Zhou Dynasty to endorse a piece of paper.
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