Chapter 380 The Role of Money (Seeking votes and subscriptions)
Galena has a long history of use. As a metal with a melting point of only over 300 degrees, it can be melted in a pottery pot. It has undoubtedly been used earlier than copper.
As early as the Shang Dynasty, humans had mastered the method of smelting metallic lead, and even weapons made of lead appeared at that time - lead spears.
And because the surface of galena will show strong metallic reflections, it is also very easy to identify. In addition, the reserves of galena are also very large, and it is a very common mineral.
However, these are not the most important. The important thing is that galena is not only used to produce metallic lead. Because its formation reason is similar to that of silver, it is a kind of hydrothermal sedimentary mineral, that is, it is formed by volcanic lava deposition. Therefore, galena, that is, lead sulfide, often accompanies silver sulfide, and even coexists.
The main component of galena is 86.6% lead, and some also contain 1% silver. Therefore, in ancient China, this mineral was often used to refine silver. As for the separation method of the two, it is simply simple, and it can be done by using the temperature difference of the melting point of the two.
That is to say, when the temperature is more than 300 degrees, lead will first melt into liquid. At this time, collect the lead and continue to heat it. When the temperature rises to 1000 degrees, the liquid metal that appears again is silver.
The discovery of metallic lead is actually not very useful to Luo Chong now. First of all, he does not need to make bullets or shells. Second, as the main raw material of lead-acid batteries, it is not needed at all now. The remaining use is to make bronze alloys.
Adding a small amount of lead to copper alloys can enhance the fluidity of the alloy melt and help to cast finer patterns or complex and small parts. For example, the bronze cast without lead is very rough. After adding lead, the surface of the finished product will be very smooth, and it can also cast fine hair-like patterns.
Of course, this is not very useful. In addition to being used to make bronze alloy bearings, it was mainly used to cast coins in ancient times. Most copper coins contain about 5% lead, which helps to cast clear handwriting or patterns. This is also the main reason for adding lead. Otherwise, it is likely to be just a rough copper plate.
The first use is not very important to Luo Chong. He has decided to gradually recycle bronze. The steel production of the Han tribe is enough to support the needs of the entire tribe. With better iron, the use of bronze is greatly reduced. Recycling bronze and using copper as a precious metal to make coins has become an inevitable trend. The emergence of lead just makes up for the shortcomings of coinage.
Overall, the required output is not very large. Of course, this is not involved in the manufacture of weapons. You must know that "azide-nitride-lead" is a better existence than "full-mercury", but it is not needed now.
Although lead is not very useful, the silver it contains is very important, or its associated mineral silver sulfide is very important. If Luo Chong could not confirm what the other gray-black heavy metal mineral was at the beginning, then there is no need to guess now. What else can be associated with pyrite and galena except argentite?
As a non-ferrous precious metal known to the world, the importance of silver is self-evident. In other words, "this is all white silver", uh, although it is still an inconspicuous piece of gray stone now
With the three metals of copper, lead and silver, the raw materials of the entire currency system of the Han tribe were almost complete. Small-denomination copper coins and large-denomination silver coins were sufficient to flexibly cope with the payment of various transactions.
Before the private ownership began, coins were dispensable or unnecessary for the Han tribe. Without consumption expenditure, money was useless and could not be spent.
Food was uniformly distributed by the tribe, houses and farmland were uniformly distributed by the tribe, and cloth and animal skins for clothes were also uniformly distributed by the tribe. What can you do with money?
But once private ownership began, transactions between individuals would occur, and similarly, transactions between individuals and collectives would also occur. For example, what should you use to buy food? Do you use pigs? The problem is that the other party does not want pigs, or he only wants ten kilograms of pork. Do you have to use a whole pig to exchange for food? The problem is that they can't make change! To give
another example, you want to exchange food for cloth. You want two meters of cloth, but the other party only needs ten kilograms of food. However, ten kilograms of food can only be exchanged for one meter of cloth. What should you do at this time? Should you tear off one meter? The problem is that one meter is not long enough. If you tear it off, it is not enough to make a piece of clothing. Isn't it a waste?
The above are all transactions that may occur between individuals, but there are also many transactions between individuals and the public, or with the government. When the public purchases grain, what does it use to purchase it? Exchange it with cloth? What is the use of so much cloth for ordinary people? They can't eat or drink it. Just enough clothes to wear. Will it get moldy if they are saved?
But when these situations happen, if you have money, it will be different. The value of money is scattered, which is very suitable for those unequal small transactions. For example, in the previous example of exchanging pigs for food, if you have money, you only need to pay coins of equal value to buy food. If you want to buy pork, you can also pay coins according to the value of the meat. In this way, there will be no situation of exchanging large for small or small for large. It is fair to both parties.
Second, if money is used as a universal exchange, then the government can use coins to pay for grain purchases, and the people don't have to worry about getting a bunch of useless things that will rot in their hands. They can use the coins they get to buy what they need, whether it's firewood, rice, oil, salt, meat, cloth, or writing brushes, inkstones, they can choose flexibly, and the money obtained from the transaction can be used to exchange for other things again, which is the so-called market economy circulation.
The discovery of the floating island associated ore this time is timely. As the main raw material of coins, it can be discovered before the implementation of private ownership. Then Luo Chong can find a way to make suitable coins in half a year before next year, paving the way for the implementation of private ownership and playing an auxiliary role. Similarly, once the coins are made, they are equally important for the foreign trade of the Han tribe.
Can you imagine that you can exchange a lot of resources from others with a bunch of metal pieces that can't be eaten or drunk? That's right, using currency to rob other tribes is the right way, and they can't spend the money they get, and finally they can only buy things from the Han tribe. In this way, Luo Chong, who controls the right to issue currency, is undoubtedly equivalent to controlling all living beings.
(End of this chapter)
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