Chapter 90 An Ordinary Little Financial Genius: Prefect Mu…
Qi Chengming thought for a moment, or perhaps he hadn't thought about it at all, and then he agreed.
Never mind, I won't think about that for now.
What if the powerful families suddenly see that he can make money and cause trouble, and want to get in touch with him?
With this wave of funding, the lives of the people of Liuzhou will at least be much better—even before the supplies have arrived, Qi Chengming has already planned how to use them.
"Your Highness, yesterday and today, so many merchants came to sign contracts with farmers. They've gone mad, buying even the cheapest pickled mustard greens!" the Liuzhou magistrate reported, beaming with delight.
Because every loan contract included a small portion for the county government officials, which was their most legitimate side income, little by little, it added up to quite a lot!
“That’s what I wanted to say too.” The usually unassuming clerk stood up. “Your Highness, I’ve seen quite a few other shops… also accepting vouchers.”
"Huh?" Qi Chengming was taken aback, but then felt there was nothing surprising about it.
The pastry shop he and Wen Er passed by yesterday was actually quite honest. The dishonest people are starting to be clever and accept bribes; there's no rule against them using vouchers. As long as they can exchange the voucher for real money at the money exchange, that's fine.
This was actually Qi Chengming's original purpose in establishing the ticket system—to start by implementing ticketing in the numerous shops controlled by him and the county government, and then, through the appeal of ticketing, to encourage the entire city to use it.
Therefore, whether it's the actions of merchants or shops, the goal is to obtain vouchers as quickly as possible in order to buy rare items and make a profit.
Thinking of this, Qi Chengming cautiously said, "Buying pickled mustard greens is fine too, anyway, this kind of thing can always be sold."
"County Magistrate, please record the data for the next few days. I need to review it every day. Including every contracted transaction exceeding one tael of silver, I will hire more accountants to help record it."
"For now, ignore those merchants and common people. Just issue a notice announcing that anyone can use the ticket..." This step is to dispel the concerns of the honest owner of the pastry shop from yesterday.
"Let's observe for a while longer, then I'll understand." The county magistrate nodded obediently, having no further questions.
However, the county magistrate in charge of taxes and the curious clerk Qin were different. The two almost asked at the same time, "Why do we even have to record foreign trade?" "Does foreign trade affect the use of receipts?"
They exchanged a glance, then looked at Qi Chengming together.
Prefect Mu nodded involuntarily. If the two of them hadn't asked first, he would have asked for clarification as well.
“Uh…” Qi Chengming carefully considered his words.
How can he explain that this is knowledge from economics? People in ancient times didn't understand these things.
After the right to mint coins is separated, if Liuzhou and the area outside Liuzhou are regarded as two different economies, then exchange rates will have to be used.
There's no need to panic right now, because everyone is still using copper coins and vouchers; Liuzhou and the surrounding areas are still unified. However, once the government announces a new policy and the people start minting new coins, prices will skyrocket. What will happen to the people of Liuzhou who only have vouchers and are unaffected, but have lost everything on their copper coins?
What Qi Chengming needed to do was to strive to achieve the rationing system in Liuzhou during that time, so as to minimize the losses of the people. Then came a difficult period of maintaining stability amidst the storms and turmoil—at that time, copper coins could be used as foreign exchange outside Liuzhou.
In other words, there needs to be an exchange rate between the ration coupons and the increasingly inflated foreign currency. Only in this way can there be a normal use of currency in the future, stabilize prices in Liuzhou, and make Liuzhou a solid fortress in the face of storms.
Qi Chengming couldn't explain it that way, so he could only bite the bullet and say, "I need these data records just in case. They're not useful now, but they'll come in handy later."
Upon hearing this, Master Qin should have realized he couldn't ask any further questions. The county magistrate glanced at his colleague and wisely kept quiet.
But only Prefect Mu, who was very serious and eager to learn, frowned and continued to ask in confusion: "Where can it be used in conjunction with the ticket? Your Highness, please enlighten me on this!"
Prefect Mu was very polite because when he served as a county magistrate in various places a few years ago, he had to stabilize grain prices during years of famine, mobilize wealthy households to contribute money and labor when things were difficult, and always guard against and crack down on people who took advantage of the chaos to make a lot of money, such as aristocratic families.
After becoming proficient in these tasks, Prefect Mu gradually sensed that there were some patterns involved, but he couldn't quite grasp them. When he tried to study them by retrieving a large number of county records, he was interrupted every time due to a lack of records.
Now that Prince Rui has said this, Prefect Mu's eyes lit up with astonishing brightness.
He instinctively felt that Prince Rui was very knowledgeable in this area; at least, his instructions just now were the result of a thorough understanding of the underlying principles. This knowledge… he wanted to learn it; he had been racking his brains trying to figure it out for many years.
To put it bluntly, being a county magistrate in one of the poorest and most miserable places is a real struggle if you don't have a few hobbies. Mu Maoshi was a pragmatist; he wasn't interested in music or calligraphy, but he had enough to keep him busy with his studies.
Qi Chengming looked at the young man's bright, eager eyes and forehead: "..."
I was filled with awe and respect.
He's so eager to learn, he can't be perfunctory.
Qi Chengming considered his words carefully. He didn't intend to go into too much depth; the underlying principles would take eight hundred years to explain, and besides, he didn't know them. It was more direct and convenient to start by explaining the concepts to beginners:
"Prefect Mu, when everyone in the city wants to use vouchers for transactions, do you know how many vouchers the money exchange should produce?"
"...This." Prefect Mu immediately frowned, deep in thought.
Qi Chengming also turned his head to look at the other waiting officials: "You can think about it too."
Since we're here to popularize economics, and everyone's here, stop awkwardly pretending to be daydreaming and spacing out. Listen up! The more you learn about being independent, the more autonomy you'll have when doing things.
Master Qin boldly spoke first: "How about more than the amount we're currently paying wages with ration coupons?"
In Liuzhou, most people used ration coupons as wages. The amount of these coupons can be determined from the records. The rest were traded and circulated among each other, so we need to add another portion.
"That's right, but how much more exactly?" Qi Chengming pressed.
"I...I don't know..." Qin Liusong cupped his hands, speechless. He roughly understood these things in his previous life, but when asked to elaborate on them, he had forgotten the specifics. Qin, at a loss for words, turned his gaze to the others. The officials he saw resembled children called on by the teacher in school, their temples sweating, their eyes darting away, hastily trying to avoid him.
A tense and awkward atmosphere filled the air.
Qi Chengming's gaze swept over them casually, a strange smile on his face. He made a concerted effort to let the group of officials off the hook and announced the answer: "All the people of Liuzhou who farm, run shops, work in factories, and even you officials who work in offices, are all working hard to produce. Some people call the result of these activities productivity."
"For example, if a farmer grows crops, how much value does the grain he produces in a year have? Subtracting the losses he incurs during the year for growing crops, that is the 'productivity' he creates in that year. The amount of vouchers that the money shop should produce should be roughly the same as the productivity of the entire population of Liuzhou. We can only make an estimate now. I have added up the data according to the categories, and it should be roughly accurate."
With the support of the infrastructure system, this is not difficult to achieve.
As Qi Chengming spoke, he was met with a sea of utterly bewildered faces.
He changed the subject with a sigh: "...It's about adding up how much money each person made net! Use every method to estimate this and turn it into tickets!"
"Remember, you can't just issue as many coupons as you want, nor can you be stingy and issue too few. If you issue too many, the price will skyrocket. This is a real-time calculation process that you have to keep an eye on every year."
There's a significant margin of error involved, and he even mentioned two different methods. But that's about it for now; Prefect Mu's face showed a look of sudden realization, while the county magistrate's face remained blank and puzzled.
"So we need to record every sales contract, and then go and investigate those account books that aren't kept in the government..." Prefect Mu murmured, suddenly enlightened, feeling a sense of exhilaration. He had encountered related topics more or less in his daily life, but he had never made such a systematic connection with the subject as Prince Rui.
He also recalled the previous changes to the government's silver notes, which were resisted and abandoned by the people because the things that could be bought with those "silver notes" were inexplicably becoming cheaper and cheaper, and they could basically not be redeemed for silver. Who would be willing to use them?
Now Prefect Mu knows the crux of the problem.
It turns out there's such a huge and intriguing connection behind all this!
This is a matter of vital importance to the nation! If these strategies were presented to His Majesty, they could save countless lives!
At this moment, Prefect Mu's admiration for the Second Prince reached its peak.
'He's clearly a prince... clearly just a prince, not a learned scholar or a high-ranking official!!'
Isn't this exactly the image of the wise ruler he swore to serve?
Mu Maoshi had long been impressed, but at this moment, looking at the spirited young prince, he still felt a lump in his throat and his lips tremble with excitement.
Mu Maoshi's face flushed with excitement. He unconsciously reached for a piece of paper, dipped it in ink, and began writing rapidly. He then eagerly returned to the question from before: "These are the people's incomes, so what impact does recording the people's expenditures have?"
"Those are my preparations for future chaos in copper coin prices." Qi Chengming didn't intend to explain this part in detail. He had already figured out everyone's situation. He was quite helpless, but it seemed that only Prefect Mu and Master Qin could understand it. He decided to call them aside for a private lesson.
What Qi Chengming learned from books was that in Liuzhou, the coupons would represent a variety of rare goods for a period of time, making them scarce and valuable. This would attract many merchants willing to buy and resell them.
As long as Liuzhou's total revenue exceeds its total expenditure, it is a healthy trade surplus. However, the amount of outflow cannot exceed 3%, otherwise it is prone to collapse and instability. Therefore, Qi Chengming needs to compile a rough estimate of the expenditure data.
He doesn't need to be so careful now, selling out indiscriminately and issuing tickets based on reserves. But once Liuzhou is prepared to close off, he will have to immediately and strictly control the circulation of tickets to the outside world, proceeding little by little.
Carefully nurture this precious sapling that you planted yourself.
...
This is the part where the three moved to another side room of the county government office, where Qi Chengming told him all about his next plans. Prefect Mu listened with rapt attention, his expression gradually becoming humble and fanatical.
He didn't understand many of the words, and the meaning behind them was obscure, and he seemed to understand them only vaguely. But the pen in Mu Zhizhou's hand moved faster and faster, wild and unrestrained. He felt extremely happy and was writing wildly with tears in his eyes.
Mu Maoshi felt as if he had been split in two. One half was calmly taking notes, while the other half was still eagerly trying to understand the profound knowledge that Prince Rui was explaining. Those unfamiliar words, those strange and mysterious workings, what wonderful rules they were!
Qin Liusong, who was almost asleep but still trying hard to stay awake, was speechless.
I felt both grief and indignation, yet also silent admiration.
The reason the new emperor mistakenly thought he was keeping up was because he had more or less learned similar knowledge later, making it easier for him than for others hearing it for the first time. What's going on with Prefect Mu?! This guy is too outrageous!
At this moment, Qi Chengming was secretly praising Prefect Mu in his heart.
He was amazed, but he didn't show it on his face. As he spoke, he started to think: It seems that we can give Prefect Mu more responsibilities in the future. We can't keep taking advantage of Mr. Qin all the time.
Just as Mr. Huang is a master in architecture and Bishu is a genius in invention and research, he has found her again this time, hasn't he?
—Prefect Mu, he's a natural genius when it comes to economics!
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The author's note: At this moment, there is another reborn guy who is silent in the small classroom and doesn't dare to utter a sound. Who is this person?
Hahaha, someone's about to break out in a sweat.
(Second update today! As long as I'm not asleep, there will still be today's update! Stubborn!) (Also, the financial and economic content in this chapter comes from Baidu and some books. I was in a rush and didn't have time to remember it all. Please try to ignore any mistakes or omissions. I'm not a professional.)
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