"No one is involved, leave immediately!" On December 31, 1696, outside the United Industrial Credit Bank branch on Qingdao Port Expo Street, more than 20 live ammunition police officers from the Ministry of Internal Affairs were dispersing in an orderly manner, controlling the key points at the bank's gate. Behind them, many internal staff members were struggling to carry boxes out from the carriage of a heavy freight carriage and walking into the bank.

The box contains the fiat currency that is about to be issued, and the large number is called "Treasury Gold Exchange Coupon of the East Coast Republic of China". Because the main unit is "round", it is also commonly known as "golden round coupons" among the people. The new fiat currency gold round coupons were not intended to be fully implemented so soon. After all, this is a fiat currency of a country. It involves all aspects of the country. It has to be piloted and then piloted before it will be fully launched. However, due to some difficult factors in the finances, the Executive Committee finally decided to issue it in advance and started issuing it on the last day of 1696 in major banks in major cities across the country.

The East Coast legal currency has six basic values: one jiao, two jiao, one jiao, one jiao, two jiao, and five jiao, which are often used in daily life. Therefore, the printing volume is the largest. The Shipu Mint and the Capital Mint issued three million in the first batch. In addition, Shiyuan, Wushiyuan and one hundred jiao, a total of 200,000 were printed. This was prepared for internal settlement between banks and large-scale transactions between enterprises or individuals on the market. It is generally unlikely that it will appear in the circulation market, and even if it is possible, people will not dare to accept it, for fear that it is fake.

The 3.2 million yuan fiat currency sounds a lot, but it’s really drizzling. With the total population of 9.58 million on the east coast (as of mid-year data, 67.4% of the East Coast born in the local area), the total amount of currency required by developed industry, commerce and foreign trade may be more than 300 million yuan.

After all, this is the size of a population of one thousand people. If the East Coast was not relatively developed, the transportation infrastructure (highways, railways, waterways and wired telegraphs) were developed, and the capital circulation was faster, the amount of money needed might be even larger. It is very likely to double it on this basis, which shows the degree of "money-making" on the East Coast.

From this we can see that the supply of more than three million yuan is really a drop in the bucket. Shipu Mint and Capital Mint have to make full efforts to print more, and strive to print 10 million yuan a month. It takes three years to slowly absorb the precious metal currencies on the market and complete the final replacement of the fiat currency. Judging from the current production capacity and the supply of special paper and ink from the Jingjiang Paper Factory, it is basically impossible. The number of production lines must be increased, or the Qingdao Mint being built is simply completed as soon as possible, so the printing capacity of this factory is stronger.

In addition to paper currency, fiat currency also includes three types of coins, one cent, two cents and five cents, all of which are copper-nickel alloys, and are used as auxiliary coins. With the current wages and prices on the east coast, this type of auxiliary coins is also very useful. After all, non-national labor workers only spend a few cents when they eat at a roadside stall. They may only use fiat currency if they have to go to a regular restaurant for dinner. It is said that the national precious metal once planned to print cents, but the production potential is seriously insufficient. At the same time, some financial officials believed that "partial coins should be kept", but in the end, they did not print cents, and instead used a new version of copper-nickel alloy instead. A lot of them were also minted this time.

The currency of the East Coast people, whether gold, silver or copper coins, has been very stable for decades. It has not only circulated in large quantities in the East Coast, but also invaded Portuguese Brazil, Western America, New Courland and many places in the Caribbean. The circulation is very large, and it has earned a lot of benefits for the East Coast government. After the launch of the fiat currency this time, it is expected to flow out overseas slowly. This will obviously increase the demand for fiat currency. Whether the 300 million yuan can be stopped has become a problem. After all, fiat currency and

Gold peg, one round is fixed to exchange for two grams of gold. The East Coast is another such a powerful and rich country. Its reputation has always been very good and has never been a record of default. Therefore, the fiat currency is still very worth investing. Think about European currencies such as Liver, Golden Geng, and Rial that depreciated severely during the war. It is really disgusting to hold the bad coins in your hand. It is better to hold the gold coupons issued by the East Coast people. You must know that only when the currency value is stable can it act as a general equivalent.

"New currency, new harvesting machine." In the Golden Deer Store not far from here, England Ambassador John Scott, this pipe, looked out from the window.

"In England, bank vouchers issued by reputable banks (generally stipulate how much gold and silver can be exchanged) can be used as currency without hesitation. I have seen in Birmingham that the main payment method of local factories is bills of exchange that have not expired. They are issued by these banks, and they can be redeemed after maturity. Think about it, yours, these bank notes can be used as currency, let alone exchange vouchers issued by the East Coast government? You must know that several banks controlled by this government have been in the whole world.

The world has outstanding reputations, such as East Coast Agricultural Bank and United Credit Industrial Bank, even if it is not as good as Amsterdam Exchange Bank and Bank of England, it is at least of the same level. In fact, I think they may be healthier and more trustworthy than Amsterdam Exchange Bank." The young master George Montgomery also looked at the bank diagonally opposite and said with a smile: "But it may be more difficult to copy all the East Coast fiat currency in England, although there are great benefits."

"Yes, Englishmen generally do not trust banks more than East Coast people. Although the currency issued by the Bank of England (sheds, pennies) is open to pass, people generally trust bills more than this. This is probably because the big names signed on the back of the bill have a more reliable reputation than banks. The Bank of England still has a long way to go if they want to change all this and even make people accept paper money." John Scott sighed and said.

Because the number of Bank of England is large and the number of bankrupt banks in history is also large, people do not trust the gold and silver exchange coupons issued by banks. The bill of exchange is different. On the back of a bill of exchange worth 100 pounds, there may be a dozen famous nobles or big merchants who are well-known, and the credibility is greater than that of a small bank sometimes even a jewelry craftsman, and the capital is much higher than that of the gold and silver deposited by customers. Although many big figures have joined forces to establish the Bank of England, it is obvious that it still takes time to settle down to reverse the bad reputation of the banking industry.

"Is there any news about the gold coupons we collected and sent back to London at the beginning of the year?" John Scott suddenly turned around and asked at Montgomery.

"There has been a reply. I just arrived yesterday afternoon and I haven't had time to report it." George Montgomery immediately replied: "In fact, Congress and the Bank of England are very interested in this. They have a strong urge to launch the English version of fiat currency, but they are worried that the market will not buy it, so they have no action for the time being. However, it is said that the Board of Directors of the Bank of England has decided to use the upcoming banknotes to trade when lending between domestic banks, and make it step by step to make it familiar to people, and finally slowly promote it to other fields and even the whole country."

On the Lombardy Street where banks in London are crowded, a large number of entrusted brokers are running around all the time, lending the balance of one bank to another bank for different periods, one day, two days, one week, etc., and even lending it at 3 pm, and paying it off at 4 o'clock in the afternoon. Their role is like water pipes, and banks are like water storage tanks. The water pipes connect all water storage tanks together and adjusting the water levels of each water tank. This is necessary to do so, because banks often lend out customers' funds, but they also have many cash expenditure businesses, so they sometimes need interbank lending. There are also many such brokers on the Expo Street of Qingdao Port on the east coast.

The Bank of England's current idea is to first complete the repayment of such interbank debts in paper money. The value of the banknote is guaranteed by the Bank of England to have this power and status, because it is not a bank for merchants or citizens, but a banker's bank in the future, and may gradually force large-scale transactions between some enterprises to be completed with banknotes issued by the Bank of England, further familiarizing the market with the value of the banknotes.

There is no way, the national conditions and systems of England and the East Coast are different. They cannot issue instructions from the government to force the promotion of paper money like the East Coast people. They cannot force merchants to pay taxes with paper money, and they cannot force the people to use paper money to consume, so they can only make a transition step by step. Fortunately, now the Bank of England, which coordinates the interests of bankers across the country, is much more convenient to do such things. If not, I am afraid that even interbank lending between banks must be completed by precious metals.

"This cautious approach is correct. Issuing paper money is of great benefit to bankers and business. In emergencies, it is of great benefit to the national finance." Paul Scot commented: "The East Coast government has now obtained a 'superpower', which is really enviable."

"Your Excellency, do you think the East Coast government will use this superpower in an emergency?" George Montgomery asked.

"They will use it without hesitation," said Ambassador Scott. "Don't worry, George. Maybe it's not a few years before we can see it."

"You mean a war breaking out?" George Montgomery quickly understood and said with a smile: "They are greedy and should actively participate in this war. But if they want to join the European battlefield, their supply line will be too long. God, bless the East Coast people's money bags, how much money will it cost? Perhaps this is why they are rushing to launch paper money, which is always easier to plunder wealth."

"After tasting the benefits of banknotes, no one can stand this temptation, whether on the East Coast or England." Paul Scott took a sip of cigarettes and said, "It's a pity that England probably doesn't have time to prepare. But we must learn from the East Coast people's thinking. Banknotes are the future trend and must speed up their actions. In fact, to a certain extent, the French issued paper money better than England because their power is highly unified, but their government's credit is too poor and they cannot support the credit currency of fiat currency."

"Maybe the Amsterdam Exchange Bank can try it?" Montgomery asked.

"No, they can't. This bank ate too much government bonds during the war, and if it did, it might trigger a crisis of trust. And the large wholesalers in Amsterdam were not very interested in this, at least not yet interested." Ambassador Scott said: "Let's wait and see. The East Coast people have made this kind of thing, to some extent, a pioneering thing, and many countries will definitely follow it in the future, but the number of banks qualified to issue banknotes must be limited. I think England must be the first to successfully launch paper currency versions of pounds and shillings, I'm looking forward to it."

"I'm also looking forward to it, Your Excellency, if it helps us win the war." George Montgomery said with a smile.
Chapter completed!