Zhao Jun thought of Zimbabwe. It was already the 21st century, and this bizarre country was still able to print countless billions of zeros on its credit currency, causing a direct collapse of the currency trading market. To buy a roll of toilet paper, one had to take a car to carry banknotes.
I even took tens of billions of Zimbabwean dollars to buy paper in the morning. After just a few minutes, the price of a roll of paper increased from 10 billion to 20 billion. It was really weird.
"Um."
Yan Shu, Lu Yijian and others looked at each other and nodded slightly.
In fact, they all knew about Jiaozi, because this thing was born in the reign of Emperor Zhenzong, and was created by sixteen officials and merchants in Chengdu Prefecture who jointly printed certificates on mulberry bark paper.
However, in the early days, it was a private deposit certificate and not officially issued. If the "Jiaozi shop" responsible for keeping the currency went bankrupt, it would lose its function because it could not be redeemed.
Therefore, in the first year of Emperor Renzong's Tiansheng reign, the imperial court set up the Yizhou Jiaozi Office in Chengdu, with one or two court officials serving as supervisors to oversee the issuance of Jiaozi. They also "established a paper-copying office to eliminate the malpractice of counterfeiting" and strictly enforced the printing process. This was the earliest paper currency officially issued by the government in my country - "official Jiaozi".
But what does this have to do with expanding the national treasury?
Zhao Jun continued, "I've said all this to tell you that the monetary system ensures the liquidity of goods traded. Commerce was already highly developed during the Song Dynasty, and a market suitable for the circulation of paper money had emerged. If we could make full use of Jiaozi, the problem of an empty treasury could be solved."
"What is the solution?"
Yan Shu asked.
Zhao Jun smiled and said, "That's easy. First, investigate the major commercial cities of the Song Dynasty and set up Jiaozi offices there. This will entice big merchants to deposit their money in government-run Jiaozi shops. With the government's endorsement, merchants won't have to worry about private Jiaozi shops going bankrupt and being unable to redeem their money."
"These big merchants traveled back and forth to buy and sell goods. Compared to carrying large amounts of copper coins, gold and silver, it was definitely more convenient for them to carry Jiaozi silver notes. The government-run bank would surely attract a large number of merchants to deposit money."
"The Song Dynasty was able to absorb countless coins in a short period of time, and those merchants would not immediately run a run on the bank. Therefore, these coins could be diverted from the Song Dynasty treasury to temporarily fill the deficit and then replenish it later."
"As long as the amount of Jiaozi issued is equal to the amount of money merchants have in deposits, or the amount of Jiaozi issued does not exceed the total value of goods circulating in the market or a few times the amount of money in deposits, it will be fine. The Song Dynasty had a developed handicraft industry and a relatively fast economic circulation. If Jiaozi was only issued to big merchants and not to ordinary people, it should not cause inflation."
"And I remember that in the Song Dynasty, when you deposited money in a Jiaozi shop, it wasn't the bank that paid interest. Instead, the depositors paid money to deposit money in the bank. Not only did the Jiaozi shop make a profit, but even the big merchants would thank the Song Dynasty court for helping them solve the inconvenience of trading between the north and the south. It was really a win-win situation."
After the speech, the emperor and his ministers of the Song Dynasty were still restless for a long time as they quietly digested the content of the information.
This is actually the essence of banking.
It requires the circulation of money to promote the circulation of the entire economy and social resources.
Therefore, even banks in the new era absorb idle money from depositors through interest, and then lend it out to enterprises, businessmen and individuals, indirectly promoting social development.
Although productivity in the Song Dynasty was relatively backward, both productivity and economic construction had reached their peak during the feudal period.
Therefore, the emergence of banks did not cause too much negative effect. After all, banks had already appeared in the Song Dynasty and greatly promoted economic development. The money shops until the Ming and Qing Dynasties were all extensions of the Song Dynasty's Jiaozi shops.
It’s just that the emperor of the Song Dynasty was stupid and did not make good use of the Jiaozi shop. Later, due to the large-scale printing of Jiaozi, an inflation occurred. From then on, the issuance of Jiaozi was completely stopped, and this opportunity was abandoned.
Otherwise, if used reasonably, it is entirely possible to use Jiaozi Shop, the world's earliest banking and money exchange system, to temporarily solve the problem of an empty treasury, and even enable the country to better control its purse and grasp the lifeline of the economy.
"Why, is there a problem?"
Zhao Jun was very embarrassed to see that after he finished speaking, there was silence all around and no one responded.
Could it be that what I said was too superficial?
That’s not right.
The people in Nini Village probably don't have a high level of education, so they probably won't understand even if I speak in a superficial way.
Even if they like history, do they understand the financial system?
It doesn't make sense.
So there is only one possibility.
What I said was too profound and they couldn't understand.
"No problem."
Yan Shu quickly responded, then praised, "Teacher Zhao is indeed a genius in the history department. We were all stunned by what he said. If you were born in the Song Dynasty, you would definitely be the top scholar! Even Lü Yijian and Fan Zhongyan could not compare to you."
"That's a must."
Zhao Jun heard the village chief and the villagers were stunned by his intimidation, and said smugly, "If I could travel back in time and return to the Song Dynasty, people like Lü Yijian and Fan Zhongyan would be a bunch of losers, not even one-tenth of my ability. And Su Shi, I would definitely beat him up and make him write lyrics to disgust me every day."
Fan Zhongyan's face was filled with black lines.
Lu Yijian clenched his fists, puffed his beard and glared at Zhao Jun.
You little bastard started scolding me.
Wang Zeng, Wang Sui and others covered their mouths and laughed. Although Zhao Jun mentioned these people, he did not say their names after all.
Zhao Zhen was even more grinning.
In the past, he was the only one who was scolded, but now there is finally someone who can share the burden with him, and he feels very happy.
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