Yes, that's the problem: the amount of gold is limited. Even if Sarath puts all its efforts into it, the gold gathered is actually not enough to circulate throughout the country as currency.
In other words, gold coins with high purity cannot be used, and it is impossible to use gold directly as currency.
Because there is a shortage of gold, its price will exceed the officially calibrated currency value. At that time, gold coins themselves will become luxury goods. Who would easily take them out to use?
If the currency is not used, then its meaning as currency is lost. In order to prevent this possibility, when Sera established the monetary system, it specially launched Sera banknotes, also known as Sera gold banknotes, a dark gold banknote with exquisite craftsmanship.
There are also versions of the Sera gold coins currently in circulation. The Sera gold coins in the early days of the founding of the country were the most valuable because of their high gold content. As time went on, the country found that the gold content was too high and was not suitable for use as currency, so it gradually reduced its gold content. As a result, although the Sera gold coins are more exquisitely made today, their actual value is lower than that of the gold coins of the previous dynasty.
"Then why is there a fluctuation?" Xia Yibing thought about it carefully and asked Hitzfeld, "I seem to remember that there was a very serious... um... depreciation?"
This is very strange, because the Sera gold notes are equal to gold coins and gold. And to be honest, the main currency in circulation in the country is actually silver goli and copper bek. Since these two currencies are mainly used for circulation, why does the Sera gold notes that can be exchanged for gold coins of equal value in the gold shop fluctuate in value?
"It's not just gold notes." Hitzfeld looked at Long En, "It should be said that all currencies in the system have experienced drastic fluctuations. Goli and Beck have both experienced drastic fluctuations."
"Yes!" Ron nodded, looking at her with some surprise and approval, "This is actually because the king has been making money."
"Making money?" Xia Yibing still didn't understand.
How is money made?
Isn't the money always the same?
"Sarah has a limited amount of gold, but that doesn't mean Sara can only print Sera gold notes of equal value." Ron explained in detail: "A country's finances are actually related to the country's...how should I put it? The harvest of crops? The area of the plantation...?"
"Productivity," Hitzfeld interjected, "or, more broadly, 'the ability to produce things of value', which is synonymous with this ability."
"That's it!" Lang En nodded vigorously, looking at her with eyes full of surprise.
"As the Count said, they are equal... But the country cannot really use only this much money, because money is real, and for the ruler of a country, it is never enough."
He cited many examples: "For example, if a disaster occurs somewhere, the impact of the disaster may lead to a total crop failure. If the wheat harvest fails, there will be no bread to eat. We cannot watch people starve to death, so we have to requisition food to help the victims."
Xia Yibing raised her eyebrows: "Hasn't the Savior Orchard been doing this all along?"
"Not enough!" Ron shook his head vigorously. "How many people can the Salvation Orchard save? According to my own statistics, the total number of people in Sara who needed relief due to natural disasters, rebellions, plagues, etc. reached more than one million! It would be good if the Salvation Orchard could play a 20% role in this. It mainly depends on the royal funding."
This time Xia Yibing can understand it - allocation means buying it with money, right?
This is normal. If the royal family wants to rescue people, they can't just give orders to those who have food to rescue them... In other words, if they still have any shame, they will definitely spend money to buy them first.
Buy wheat bread and send it to help refugees in disaster areas.
There are also diseases such as plague. Don’t be fooled by the fact that the environment of big cities like Wayne looks mediocre. That’s because when they were first built, they inherited the sewer system of the ancient city. The smaller the town, the harder it is to have a sound sanitation management. The probability of plague and cholera in those places is not too high.
So, should such places be saved? If we want people's hearts to gather and unite to resist disasters, then we can't just stand by and watch them die. Rescuing the disease involves medicines, labor and other supplies, and the huge transportation maintenance costs must also be added in.
This is all money!
Xia Yibing had never thought about it before, and she didn't feel it clearly. Now, if she were to stand in the king's position and look at these things, she would feel overwhelmed just by thinking about it.
Of course the money is not enough... With so many diseases and disasters, even the royal family doesn't have so much money!
"If there is not enough money, things cannot be handled," Long concluded. "If things cannot be handled once or twice, it's okay, but if it happens too many times, the country is at risk of collapse."
"What should we do then?" Xia Yibing's expression became serious.
Then she suddenly remembered a word she had mentioned before: "Making money?"
"Yes, that is to make money." Lang En nodded, "If we really have no money to spend, then we can make money."
"Of course, gold cannot be made. Ancient alchemy has not yet been proven to be true or false. We cannot make gold... but that does not mean we cannot make Sera gold banknotes that are equivalent to gold."
"So minting money means Insela banknotes?" Xia Yibing suddenly realized, then opened her mouth and said nothing more.
She realized it.
She finally realized what was going on with this currency fluctuation.
The logic is simple...you can print more money and use it to put out fires temporarily, there's no problem with that.
But you have to know that the reason for the existence of money is because of goods - money is used to buy things. Only when the thing to be bought exists does the money have the value it marks.
The current situation is that there is more money, but there are no more goods on the market. This will inevitably lead to the depreciation of the value of the currency.
At the same time, Xia Yibing felt cold all over.
Because she also realized one thing: currency depreciation is irreversible.
Being in a high position, she had heard about the economic situation to some extent. Sarah now had to spend money on many things. Even though the evil followers had been defeated and the local evil disasters had been greatly reduced, the expenses in all aspects were still extremely staggering.
Money must be spent and must be used.
But it is definitely not enough.
Then it must be reprinted.
And every time the coins are printed, the superiors are actually plundering the value of the lower classes.
Obviously, nothing can be seen at the moment, but if it is really irreversible and this process is allowed to continue endlessly... then one day, the national economic system will collapse, and there may even be a huge chaos!
Wouldn't this become a major crisis that would shake the foundation of the country?
She was no longer just "widening her eyes slightly", but opened her eyes wide and asked with some trembling: "Then...is there any way to solve this problem?"
She came back from Aisha Continent, and this behavior has already shown her attitude.
No matter how dissatisfied she was with Charuni and the country of Sara, she did not want to implicate the lower-class people.
If Sarah collapsed because of something like this... a reason that she even thought was a little ridiculous... then what would happen to so many people?
"There is a way." Lang En nodded, "It is to open up more trade markets."
"Actually, let's put it this way... I don't know how to stop this, but expanding the market can make the scale bigger, and the bigger the scale, the slower the currency depreciation."
"So you would... think that I did something of great importance?" Hitzfeld finally spoke.
She had been listening to what had happened so far and felt that she finally understood why Lang En wanted to surrender.
"Yes, it's about the return of Elsa Continent." Lang En admitted.
"Sara's economic advantage lies in its large land area, large population and abundant resources. Because of the changeable climate, many crops and fruit trees can survive."
"This is extremely suitable for trade. Trade can greatly delay the crisis in this area, but unfortunately, humans are surrounded by gray fog."
"Gray fog - it has blocked too many ancient trade routes, causing the human kingdom today to rely on new roads and new shipping routes opened up by heroes who sacrificed themselves for trade and transportation. However, this efficiency is far from satisfactory."
"Originally we had Nanxinze. Opposite Nanxinze was Beigeli, which was Ivenria. With Goli as a transit station, we could barely connect this trading network. But now Goli is in crisis, and Ivenria will soon be swallowed by the gray fog."
"This is a hidden crisis... I am not exaggerating. If the Earl had not dispelled the gray fog from the Elsa continent and opened up more than one new route for us, I dare to assert that within twenty years, Sara would have erupted in civil strife due to the currency issue."
"I came closer because I thought you had made a great contribution in this regard." He lowered his head.
"I just wanted to see what the legendary Earl Xie Yang was like, but I didn't expect you to be so knowledgeable in this area."
"That doesn't count!" Hitzfeld's mouth twitched.
Her level is... just amateur. How can someone who can't even trade stocks be qualified to call herself a knowledgeable professional?
"You are too modest!"
But Long had obviously decided on her.
"I have never told these things to my family... Some classmates have heard of it, but no one agrees with my ideas. They all laugh at me for thinking too much."
"Only you."
He raised his head and looked at the girl with eyes that were almost on fire.
"You are worthy enough for me to follow."
"cough!"
Xia Yibing was particularly unhappy with his look and stepped in front of him to interrupt the conversation: "Alright -"
"I know why you're here... I think you're planning to usurp your father's position as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Anyway, we know what you want."
"I'm not greedy for that position, I'm actually——"
"That's enough!" Xia Yibing interrupted him again and said to him word by word, "It's enough."
"Tell me about the tree, your great-grandfather's notes, and the story behind it."
"please?"
"..."
Perhaps forced by her attitude, Lang En really shut up.
"Then go ahead."
He frowned and thought for a while, then said, "King Charuni was not understood and even despised at the time. Coincidentally, there was someone in Barish's family who was in a similar situation as him."
"They met by chance during a hunt and became best friends ever since."
Chapter 53: Barish's Lost Pearl 2-2-1
Long was talking, but Hitzfeld was no longer content to just listen to him.
She had been through too much and seen too much. The story recounted by a teenager was a little distorted for her, and it was far from satisfying her curiosity and her pursuit of the truth.
So naturally, just when Xia Yibing was listening to the story attentively, Hitzfeld quietly pulled the blindfold a little.
Puslint is known as the "City of Dreams", and it is the gathering place of the spiritual thoughts of extraordinary people.
There might not be a place in the whole Wayne where the spiritual power is more intense and sensitive than here. If this is the case, there is no reason why she can't follow the prompts and go "look" directly.
Facts proved that she was right - after activating the divine eye, the picture in front of her eyes was divided into two, one was the present, printed on the right eye, and the other was the past, hidden in the left eye.
The misty white fog kept floating in the left eye's picture, and Hitzfeld saw one ghostly shadow after another going up and down the stairs, but none of the figures were familiar.
I'm looking for Richard Baresch.
She tried to strengthen her thoughts.
Richard Barish, Charuni Asfin Sara... I want to find these two people if they have been here.
The effect was very obvious, just like going to some websites and entering the corresponding tag in the search box. The time in her left eye suddenly accelerated and then suddenly slowed down. Finally, she saw a tall young man running quickly down the stairs.
"Asfen, what are you doing?" He shouted as he ran. "The professors said that it is strictly forbidden to bring in poltergeist items... My God! How did you hide it from those people?"
The boy looked very young, about 14 years old. But he was already over meters tall, with short, slightly curly dark green hair, dark green eyes that looked black if you didn't look closely, and a few freckles on his fair and handsome face. He passed through Hitzfeld while shouting, like a real ghost.
Of course, this is just an illusion.
Turning around, Hitzfeld saw that the direction he was running was exactly that big white tree. But it was worth mentioning that in the picture seen by his left eye, that position was empty.
There were no white mu trees, no plants, and the ground was not paved with white stone tiles. It looked like a misty cloud, a bit like the scene of dry ice being thrown into the water and smoking.
There was another person squatting there. Even though he didn't stand up, Hitzfeld could tell that he was a size smaller than the new boy. He was wearing a gorgeous white robe, but it was covered with all kinds of dirt. After being startled by the green-haired boy, he immediately raised his head, revealing a slightly chubby face with more freckles than the other boy could see.
"Richard!" He grinned happily, "I knew you would sneak up on me! Come on! I've been waiting for you!"
"Are you waiting to implicate me and get us both expelled?" The green-haired boy's face darkened, but even so, he still approached insincerely and squatted down with the round-faced boy, "What is this?"
Hitzfeld had already walked to the open space. Lang En was staring at her inexplicably, but Xia Yibing raised her hand to block his view and ordered him, "Go on... Just tell me, don't bother with her."
She could guess what Hitzfeld was doing, so it was better not to disturb her.
While the two of them continued their story over there, Hitzfeld was immersed in the story himself. He leaned over and saw the round-faced boy carefully open his hand, revealing a black bean inside.
The green-haired boy frowned: "What kind of seed is this?"
It looks like beans, and he brought it to the open space specially. It’s easy to guess that Asfen wants to plant this thing.
The fact that it was brought to Dream City showed that it was no ordinary seed. He couldn't help but worry about the fate of the two... If they were discovered, the chances of being expelled would be extremely high.
"Ha! You don't understand at all!" the boy said mysteriously, "This is Bai Mu's seed! It's a Bai Mu tree!"
"What? ...But isn't Bai Mu——"
“Extinct, right?” The boy nodded. “That’s true, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t any seeds of it left in those ancient ruins.”
"You're either in school or bored in the palace every day. How can you find a chance to visit ancient ruins?"
"Richard, are you stupid? If I can't get off, can't my father's people get off?"
"You stole it?" The boy's expression turned serious. "This is the result of those knights' expedition, right? You took it back when no one was paying attention... To be honest, Asfen, I suggest you put it back."
"Why?" the boy was angry. "I took it out with great difficulty! Why should I return it?"
"Because it is stained with the blood of countless victims." Richard said to him word by word.
The boy was stunned. This was indeed something he had not expected.
"You always say that you are not a child and that you want others to treat you as an adult." Richard continued to persuade him, "Then you must understand, right? Exploring ruins is very dangerous for an individual."
