Back to Ming Dynasty with Industrial Revolution System

Chapter 1784 General Currency and Navigation Regulations

"As for the general currency, we use dragon pattern silver dollars and banknotes for settlement. That is to say, our merchants will be able to use the above two forms of currency to trade with your merchants. If you receive such banknotes, please do not doubt their authenticity. practicality, and you can exchange it for gold and silver at any of our banks."

In Chu Yun's hand, he raised a banknote that had just been printed, and the ink traces on it were still fresh.

This humble thing will replace the pound and the dollar in the future as the world currency, and it will be linked to gold!

"Using paper as currency?!"

The ambassadors from various countries were deeply incredulous. The banknotes used in Europe were not issued until 1661 by the Bank of Sweden, while Jiaozi was used in the East as early as the Song Dynasty, and banknotes were issued in the Yuan and Ming dynasties. It is easy to be spammed and become worthless, far less reliable than gold and silver, but people in the East are no strangers to paper money.

On the contrary, the envoys from the West could hardly imagine the use of banknotes. Many ambassadors were in charge of their own kingdoms. Some of them were proficient in economics, and soon had heated discussions in private.

In their view, Huaxia obviously used banknotes as general equivalents like gold and silver, and they began to try to understand the role of banknotes.

"Is it too rash to use banknotes for trade settlement? Who can safely believe that banknotes will lose their effectiveness? In the event of a change of power in the East, the banknotes become a piece of waste paper. Who should the person holding the banknotes ask for?" Gold and silver?"

"Using paper instead of gold and silver, how can we determine the authenticity of banknotes?"

"Is there a bank in the East? If we need to go to your bank to exchange it for gold and silver, we still need to get it from the East?"

Soon they discovered something was wrong.

"I will answer your doubts one by one."

Chu Yun found that he was holding a press conference. The other party was hearing many concepts for the first time, and new rules needed to be introduced to them.

"In the future, trade in various places will become more frequent and larger in scale. It is not only inconvenient but also unsafe to directly use gold and silver for transactions. Once the ship is sunk by a storm midway, the gold and silver carried on the ship will also be destroyed. Sinking to the bottom of the sea, the cost of salvage is very high, and the loss of banknotes is only the loss of some white paper.”

"We will set up branches in London, England, and Valletta, Malta, to provide financial services to all countries along the Atlantic coast and the Mediterranean, and to provide services such as borrowing and exchange to various kingdoms. You can go to our banknotes with our banknotes. Branches directly exchange for gold and silver, we do not set restrictions, how much banknotes you have obtained, as long as you want to exchange, you can exchange them for gold and silver at any time."

Chu Yun explained one after another, trying to dispel their doubts: "We will not force you to use banknotes, but propose a more convenient settlement method. You can still use silver coins to trade with us, and we will use silver coins and gold coins from various countries. The fineness and the exchange rate of our dragon pattern silver dollar will be determined."

The envoys of various countries were all right to worry about paper money, and Chu Yun was also afraid that the use of paper money would be too advanced, so he still chose the method of co-circulating paper money with silver dollars and copper coins.

It is inevitable that paper money will replace silver and copper coins, and eventually paper money will disappear.

The people at the venue felt better when they heard that the other party still used silver coins. If they were worried about the disadvantages caused by paper money, then it would be good to continue to use silver coins for transactions.

Chu Yun suddenly announced that Chinese should become the international lingua franca and dragon coins should become the international currency. Ambassadors from all over the world just had to digest these contents.

But that's just the beginning.With an international lingua franca and a common currency, international trade will become simpler, that is to say, the cost of international trade will be reduced.

International order is more than that.

"The third point is that we plan to promulgate the free navigation regulations to provide a stable navigation environment for the great navigation trade." Chu Yun once again raised a topic that made everyone restless.

"What does the Freedom of Navigation Act deal with?"

This time it was the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal and other sea power countries that responded the most.

Some Mediterranean powers, such as Venice, Genoa, the Ottoman Empire, and even the Barbary pirates in North Africa also paid great attention to the freedom of navigation regulations suddenly announced by Chu Yun.

"The so-called freedom of navigation regulations means that all countries that have joined the freedom of navigation regulations will not attack each other's merchant ships, and are eligible to stop at each other's non-military ports. Unless the two sides declare war, all countries must not condone privateer ships attacking each other to join the freedom of navigation Merchant ships of countries that are members of the Code of Navigation. Merchant ships of neutral countries may not be attacked during a declaration of war."

"In addition, countries that have joined the freedom of navigation regulations should send ships to conduct irregular anti-piracy operations to ensure the smooth flow of waterways around the world."

"At the same time, all countries should have freedom of navigation, freedom of fishing, freedom of laying submarine cables and pipelines in sea areas."

Chu Yun announced to them the first treaty with the nature of international law - the "Freedom of Navigation Regulations".

Huaxia has the largest colony, and Chu Yun has also helped local merchants open up markets all over the world. Logically speaking, Huaxia's merchant ships will definitely appear all over the world by then.It is a very expensive thing to send warship escorts all over the world.Before Chuyun had only one western company that traded between the East and the West. The western company had its own regular shifts, and the Fourth Fleet also had to return to the mainland for shifts. It was okay to send some ships from the Fourth Fleet to escort the company's merchant ships.If there are more and more Chinese merchant ships going to sea in the future, and steam ships can sail regardless of the monsoon, the time of each merchant ship going to sea is different, and the active sea area is getting wider and wider, it is really difficult to protect them completely.

There are also Barbary pirates in the Mediterranean, and Arabian and Persian pirates are actually active in the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea, not to mention the Caribbean.

The most troublesome thing is probably the privateers of various countries that play the role of pirates. Sometimes they are merchant ships, sometimes they are pirate ships. As an upright naval force, Chu Yun has the upper hand, so he plans to clean up guerrillas such as pirates and privateers. It exists to make all sea areas safer.

Hearing that Chu Yun promulgated the "Regulations on Freedom of Navigation" and prepared to attack pirates everywhere, a group of representatives of the Barbary pirates who were invited couldn't hold back. The Barbary pirates were able to accumulate wealth and live by plundering merchant ships on the Mediterranean Sea. Come down, isn't this "Freedom of Navigation Regulations" cutting off their way of life?
(End of this chapter)