,
Britain forced itself to carry out an industrial revolution and use production efficiency to improve the international competitiveness of its products. In the final analysis, it still had to use this dumping trade in exchange for gold and silver from other countries.
Why did Spain and Portugal finally decline? In the final analysis, they only know how to play finance and do not know how to engage in industry, and the national economy is seriously hollowed out.
Even they are not engaged in finance. Most of the gold they snatched from South America went into the pockets of the royal family and nobles, and all they got in exchange was their extravagant desires!
The people did not get the slightest benefit from it, but on the contrary, the private industry was wiped out by British industrial products.
Spain and Portugal finally fell like this!
Britain gradually built up enough wealth through continuous trade deficits, and then began to develop its navy. The early navy only relied on privateers to support the situation.
Speaking of which, the British are quite rogue. On one hand, they use the dumping of industrial products to earn your gold, but on the other hand, they raise pirates to rob you directly on the high seas!
One in literature and one in martial arts, both hands are strong!
It was due to the ebb and flow of such strength that the final glorious victories in the Battle of Britain and Spain and the Battle of Trafalgar were achieved. In the end, Britain became the overlord of the ocean.
Then came the drama of British colonization of the world. The Empire on which the Sun Never Sets began to attract money from all over the world. The huge productivity brought by the Industrial Revolution eventually turned into commodity dumping in the colonies.
Cheap industrial products exchanged the world's gold and silver, and Britain suddenly became the country with the largest gold reserves in the world!
It stands to reason that the story should have come to an end here, but the British are still very smart. Those capital tycoons and the elite began to unite to think about gold.
Is it really good to mint physical currency with gold and silver?
You must know that mankind's gold and silver currencies for thousands of years have been physical. You must use real gold and silver to cast or stamp them, and personally give pieces of gold and silver coins to the people. Only then can it be called currency!
In the commodity trade, in the final analysis, real gold and silver are flowing. Today this gold coin flows to France, and tomorrow it may arrive in Belgium.
Gold has no national boundaries. No matter what pattern you cast it into, it will continue to change countries following the flow of commodities.
This is not good, this is very bad! The British, who are wary of danger in times of peace, know that other countries may catch up in the future. What will happen if the competitiveness of British products becomes weaker?
What should we do once products from other countries gain the upper hand in the international market? Will there be a massive outflow of British gold during trade?
It's not impossible. Don't forget the huge trade deficit between Britain and the Qing Dynasty during the Qianlong period! That was a huge hole that made the entire British government and opposition parties restless.
It was based on this thinking that the United Kingdom began to stipulate the gold standard by law!
Someone said that other countries use gold as currency! Isn’t it already on the gold standard? Why does the UK need to do more?
In fact, this is different. The gold standard in other countries is just the old-fashioned way of using gold to mint currency!
The British gold standard uses legal forms to determine the locking of pounds and gold. This is the method that Sir Newton came up with!
One pound can legally be exchanged for 732,238 grams of gold! This ensures the international credibility of pound banknotes!
From that moment on, the physical gold in the British treasury could only go in and out. The physical gold began to gradually flow in, and the outflows were pieces of banknotes.
Although it stands to reason that holders of pound banknotes in other countries can also go to the Bank of England to exchange for gold, in reality few people do so.
Because the legal credibility of the UK is very high. After all, it has cut off the king's head, so its credibility is very good!
People believe in the British gold standard bill, and then they also believe in the credibility of pound banknotes. Indeed, it is more convenient to use banknotes in commodity circulation than heavy gold coins.
If a well-fed person goes to the Bank of England to exchange gold, the British will keep their word and exchange it for him.
But if it is the behavior of a country or a large consortium, you will encounter various problems!
If some countries want to exchange all their pounds into real gold and silver and take them away, then there will naturally be some under-the-table operations.
Once the British discover that this amount of gold exchange threatens their control of gold, it will be up to diplomats or opposition politicians and capitalists to mediate.
To put it more broadly, it’s all kinds of economic sanctions!
Even more seriously, could the British Royal Navy cause some trouble for you on the high seas? Could it be that your enemy country has received some funding from the UK?
Anyway, there are too many dirty tricks. Britain will not let you affect its national security. The gold reserve is a life-or-death line and must not be challenged!
Economic, political, diplomatic, military... pressures from many aspects ensure the possibility of such a large-scale manifestation of gold. Basically no country dares to play such a game!
Gordon told the history of gold in Europe in an in-depth and simple way. It seems that Gordon is really a master of story telling. For more than two hours, he vividly told various legendary stories in history.
Zai Chun was dumbfounded. This was more enjoyable than what Mr. Tianqiao Storyteller told.
When talking about excitement, Zai Chun actually carried the teapot to refill Gordon's water. This was really a great honor!
"My dear, if you say so, then the pricing power of gold should be in the hands of the Queen?"
Gordon smiled bitterly and shook his head, "Here's the complexity. The international pricing power of gold is really not in the hands of the Queen..."
"The story here starts with the development of capitalism in the past!"
"Let me tell you clearly, your Majesty, gold is actually controlled by capitalist forces. This is a huge group that you can feel but cannot understand!"
Ancient Europe was a feudal world. At that time, the feudal aristocracy and the church ruled the world, and absolute power was in their hands.
The concept of capitalists did not exist. At that time, there were only some wealthy businessmen who were barely capitalists, but their fate was also precarious.
If nothing else, the church can just go to his house and sell indulgences, and you can make a lot of money! Come and buy an indulgence for a hundred gold francs!
What to say? Do you dare to say that you are not guilty? Do you dare to say you won’t sell it? Come on, this wife is a witch, drag her out and burn her to death!
The daughter of this family dragged me to the dungeon and asked me to examine her carefully!
Dare you not buy indulgences from the Holy See? I'll kill your whole family and destroy your whole family!
It was really a dark era, and everyone was insecure about their wealth. Businessmen who were rich were the focus of exploitation!
The Holy See believes that all human beings are guilty and everyone will go to hell. If you want to avoid the tragic ending of going to hell after death, you must buy more indulgences while you are alive!
A piece of broken paper can be exchanged for people's wealth. This is what the Catholic Church did!
