General's money won an economic victory. After that, in Jizhou, general's money could not only buy salt and Shu brocade, but also any goods sold in the market.
The degree of trust that merchants, large and small, have in General Money far exceeds the degree of trust in other locally minted currencies.
The value of the general's currency was stable and did not fluctuate very much. The most important commodity, salt, could be purchased regularly, so merchants in Jizhou soon followed the old path west of Luoyang.
They habitually linked the currency value of general money with the value of goods, stipulated how much general money could be used to purchase some daily commodities, and clearly marked the prices, so that no one could deceive them.
The currency trade system established based on generals' money gradually took shape in Jizhou.
This approach is also very advantageous for the commodity economy, because ordinary people can stably purchase a certain amount of goods with a certain amount of general money over a long period of time.
If privately minted currency is used elsewhere, it will change based on the exchange ratio of privately minted currency for general money that often changes in the market.
Maybe today this kind of privately minted currency is more valuable, but tomorrow a scandal will break out, saying that this kind of privately minted currency actually does not contain enough copper, and only the first batch is considered good money, and the rest are scraps, so this kind of privately minted currency The value immediately plummeted.
This kind of thing has happened frequently in recent years.
You can buy it directly with generals' money, but you have to pay attention to specific changes when using privately minted currency. The time cost during this period also invisibly pushes up people's transaction costs.
The things that originally hindered the development of the monetary economy were solved by Liu Bei's General Qian. On this basis, General Qian ushered in a brilliant victory.
At the time when Man Chong proposed to Liu Bei to fully recover the coinage rights, General's Money also completed full circulation in Jizhou. General's Money was fully circulated in the ten counties of Jizhou, and various goods had formed a fixed exchange ratio with General's Money in the market. .
In this way, it is not far away from the established fact that local county governments and private individuals in Jizhou will lose their right to mint coins.
At present, the markets that General Qian has not yet conquered are the four Central Plains states, Yangzhou and Jingzhou.
But it should be said that the four Central Plains states, Yangzhou, and Jingzhou were not completely immune to the influence of the general's money.
Although commodity trade is very difficult these days, it is unrealistic to say that there is no trade between regions at all.
At least, there are no geographical restrictions on things like Shu brocade. It is produced in Yizhou, but throughout the Han Dynasty and even in some surrounding foreign countries, Shu brocade is a well-known super-high-quality luxury product.
People in the Central Plains flock to it, and people in Yangzhou and Jingzhou cannot escape its charm. They would rather eat without meat than wear without brocade.
And the full power of its production and sales is in the hands of Liu Bei.
want to?
Use the general's money to buy it.
No general money?
I have it. Exchange that valuable thing with me and I'll give it to you.
The four states in the Central Plains began to promote the circulation of Liangzhou salt on a limited basis because many positions that were vacant after the purges of the Jinwen School and the slave restriction order were occupied by Liu Bei's cronies.
In addition, all counties and counties where Liu Bei's close associates and disciples were encouraged to serve as chief executives, as long as they had private coin minting departments, stopped local private coin minting and transferred all technical craftsmen and production tools to Liu Bei's request. Liu Bei.
These places also introduced Liangzhou salt production technology almost simultaneously. The locally produced "Liangzhou fine salt" produced had a severe impact on local salt households, and thus began the large-scale circulation of general money.
In this process, because it is closer to Yizhou, Jingzhou was affected by general money earlier than the four states in the Central Plains. The upper class in Jingzhou accepted the existence of general money earlier and began to actively use general money in some economic activities. money.
All in all, in addition to militarily coercing the world and seizing political power, Liu Bei also played a combined punch economically.
Liangzhou salt, Shu brocade and general money are his economic tactics, his economic lightning three-lash whip. Although it is two whips less than the lightning five-lash whip, the effect may be much better than the lightning five-lash whip. .
To be honest, the areas where Liu Bei's power is the weakest in the Han Dynasty and the areas least affected by Liu Bei's power are Jingzhou and Yangzhou.
Especially Yangzhou, it was because Jingzhou had access to the general's money, and thus had a slight connection with Liu Bei's power, and nothing else at all.
Liu Bei has no disciples or former officials who hold positions in Jingzhou and Yangzhou. Only the Gu family and the Lu family have some close relationship with Liu Bei because of the existence of Gu Yong and Lu Kang.
But relying on these two families alone is obviously not enough.
Liu Bei's current political power is slowly penetrating into the four Central Plains states. Facing Jingzhou and Yangzhou in the south of the Yangtze River, he still lacks influence. Therefore, even if he implements the slave restriction order, he will first attack the four Central Plains states and wait for the problems in the four Central Plains states to be resolved. It's almost done, and then we'll attack Jingzhou and Yangzhou.
This issue raised by Man Chong is a problem that Liu Bei will have to solve sooner or later. However, this matter has a relatively wide range of implications, and there will be greater resistance if it is raised openly, so Liu Bei feels that it is better to directly create the established facts.
Anyway, under his three economic axes, there are currently no local forces that can withstand it.
To counter Liu Bei's three economic axes, we must either develop better currency and more meaningful cargo links, or engage in counterfeit currency tactics.
It is difficult to get better quality currency. The currency of Liu Bei's level is already very high quality. Unless you get pure copper, but pure copper is too soft. If it is used as currency, the loss rate will be very high. Moreover, the Han Empire is not a copper coin. There are more countries than we can use up.
It is also difficult to link to more meaningful goods.
Salt and Shu brocade, two national commodities with strategic significance, have been completely controlled by Liu Bei and have been linked to the general's money.
The only other strategically important commodities that the Han Empire could produce and that were not monopolized by the central government were steel.
But sorry, although Liu Bei did not announce that steel will be linked to general money, that is because general money has become the only currency in all areas within the radiation range of the steel system he controls.
People in those places not only use general money to purchase ironware, but also use general money to purchase other daily necessities such as food, cloth, etc. Other coins have been considered to be inferior currencies without credibility and have been effectively banned from circulation.
The general's money has not covered the past areas, and tax barriers have not yet been broken. If the high-quality steel he owns is sold in those places, the price will be very high, so Liu Bei has not pushed his high-quality steel into those high-tariff areas at all.
Now, high taxes have become an invisible wall, blocking the entry of high-quality steel. Once the tax barriers are broken, high-quality and cheap steel will instantly overwhelm inferior steel in those high-tariff areas, forming an absolute advantage and quickly seizing the market.
Original interest groups will collapse.
Their low-quality steel could not compete with the high-quality steel Liu Bei had mastered. Not only was it inferior, it was also unable to provide a stable and adequate supply. Farmers hated this situation, and even if they linked up, they would not be able to shake the superiority of General Qian.
So for now, Liu Bei doesn't think that any local force can support a new currency to fight against his own general money. If they are given ten years, if they can accomplish one thing, Liu Bei will admit defeat.
So what are you worried about?
Let’s prepare for the creation of the current middle desk.
(End of chapter)
