Wild North America 1846

Chapter 133 Weights and Measures and Currency Issues
After continuously inspecting several representative workshops in Sidaowan Village, Li Cha stayed at a relatively famous hotel in Sidaowan Village at night, called "Nanyue Hotel".

During this time

The 120 personal guards brought by Li Cha from Denver were dispatched one after another to the newly formed troops as grassroots officers, and less than 20 remained with them.

These are good seedlings who have experienced several large-scale bloody battles, are experienced, loyal and down-to-earth.After a period of training, they have already possessed the excellent qualities of a grassroots commander.

After the pro-guards were officially promoted to second lieutenant or lieutenant officer, they were transferred to the newly formed unit and became the backbone of the new unit.

at the same time
380 to 400 outstanding soldiers were selected from the new army, and after layers of screening, they entered the royal family's personal guard cuirassier regiment to serve, providing new blood for this cavalry unit with the nature of a teaching regiment.

The basic requirements are 17-21 years old, good health, good looks, loyalty to the kingdom, loyalty to His Majesty, literacy, good moral character, and willingness to dedicate their lives to the revitalization of the Chinese nation.

These selected outstanding soldiers were finally reviewed by His Majesty the King one by one, and after being approved, they entered the Guard Cuirassier Regiment, and the total number was controlled at about 320.

Entrance of Nanyue Hotel
Fan Pengfei, who was recently selected into the Guards Cuirassier Regiment, was fully armed and stood on the sentry post with a long gun in his hand. He stood upright and couldn't hide the excitement on his face.

He is a refugee from the Jiaodong Peninsula. His hometown has experienced nine droughts for ten years. Every year when the spring famines are not picked up, he has to come out to beg for food. Along the way, he gnaws on tree bark and eats countless Guanyin soil. He is hungry everywhere, and he collapses as he walks. .

Last year was another severe drought with scorching sun and no harvest.

18-year-old Fan Pengfei's parents, elder sister and younger brother all starved to death on the way to escape. He struggled with the fleeing crowd and came to Weihaiwei.

So what's the hesitation?
As long as you can survive, you can do anything!

Just like that, Fan Pengfei passed the physical examination for foreigners, no disease, no plague, no disability, no bad habits.

Strong and young, articulate, and in line with the basic standards of immigrants, he put on new clothes, ate enough food, and raised him for more than three weeks, and his body became stronger like breathing.

Such measures are necessary. When many refugees are first selected, they are as skinny as bamboo poles. It is difficult for them to withstand the harsh environment of ocean voyages.

Then, he and 789 other people were stuffed into a large sailing ship, sailed all the way across the ocean to North America, and finally ushered in a happy day that could not be imagined in his dreams.

Because Fan Pengfei was young, strong and literate, he was selected to the recruit training camp after disembarking from the ship, and started his unique military career.

Here, I ate white flour steamed buns and broth, ran five kilometers a day, sweated on the training ground, and received daily loyalty education, and soon transformed, and my whole person became different from before.

After training and beating for 4 months, his body became stronger and stronger, and he became a qualified recruit.

By coincidence, through layers of screening, he entered the most glorious army of the Tang Kingdom - the royal family's personal guard cuirassiers.

This is an opportunity that all partners envy, how can we not be excited?
"Keep serious, keep your eyes fixed, and be vigilant at all times when you are on duty." The patrolling officer came over and ordered loudly.

"Yes, sir."

The eight sentinels on duty involuntarily raised their chests higher and looked ahead with piercing eyes.

The officer walked up to the sentinel and corrected his untidy appearance one by one. When he walked in front of Fan Pengfei, he lowered his head and was furious;
"Soldier, name?"

"Report sir, Private Fan Pengfei."

"Why haven't your boots been wiped clean?"

"Report sir, I... I was negligent."

"What? Negligence." The officer moved his vicious face closer to Fan Pengfei, and the nose-to-nose difference between the two sides was no more than three centimeters, and shouted; "These boots are worth more than you, idiot! No one can wear them." These boots. I want you to polish them every day to be brighter than a mirror, so that people can be seen, and no trace of dust is allowed to fall, otherwise I will press your head on them and lick them clean, do you hear me?"

The officer's saliva was all sprayed on Fan Pengfei's face, with a strong smell of garlic, but he didn't dare to move. He stood upright and replied loudly; "Of order, sir, lick it if you can't clean it."

"Repeat my order, Private."

"Report sir, this pair of leather boots must be polished to be brighter than a mirror every day, so that people can be seen, and no trace of dust is allowed to fall."

"Mark my words, private, the honor of the Royal Guards Cuirassiers is to love every piece of our equipment, from helmets to breastplates, from jugs to boots, and the badge that symbolizes the Royal Guards Cuirassiers. Badges, everything must be clean and spotless, this is the glory we will protect with our lives. Do you understand?"

"Understood, sir, this is the honor we will protect with our lives."

"And what about you?"

"Understood, sir, this is the honor that we will protect with our lives." Eight sentries shouted in unison.

"Okay, what are you doing shouting so loudly?" The officer waved his hand, looked back at the lights in the back of the hotel, and said with a little fear; "A group of idiots, if your majesty is alarmed, I will accompany you to bad luck." .”

"Understood, sir, you are also in bad luck with us." The eight sentries replied in unison, their voices were indeed much quieter.

The officer was stunned by the sentry's answer, looked at their innocent faces with black lines, shook his head speechlessly, turned and left, and continued to check the post.

in hotel room

There are a large number of memorials piled up on Li Cha's desk, involving military, political, economic, police, and people's livelihood. After reviewing them one by one, they will be handed over to various departments of the kingdom for execution.

It has been a year and a half since the establishment of the Tang Kingdom, and various systems have gradually entered the right track. The United Kingdom has dispatched a considerable number of professionals in administration, law, and police to assist the Tang Kingdom in establishing a modern administrative system.

The legal and administrative systems of the Datang Kingdom fully apply the British system, which saves time, effort and worry, and has been proved to be more efficient.

Li Cha didn't have the time to create a whole set of administrative system that belonged to the Tang Kingdom alone. The feudal system of the Manchu Qing Dynasty had been proven by historical trends not suitable for the development of the new era, let alone learn it.

There are several important matters that are related to the international people's livelihood before Li Cha, and decisions must be made as soon as possible without any further delay.

Once the situation changes
As the supreme commander and spiritual pillar of the Tang Kingdom's army, Li Cha had to rush to the front line of Denver to sit in command immediately, so he had no spare time to deal with these government affairs.

When the time comes, it will be delayed, and I don't know how many years will be in the future.

One is the standard of weights and measures of the Tang Kingdom, whether to use the imperial system, the metric system or the Qing system. This matter must be clarified, otherwise it will cause confusion in measurement.

Li Cha first abolished the Qing system, and he didn't even understand the Qing system, and the tax payment was still based on an approximate amount of one bucket and one load, which was extremely imprecise.

1 tael of cleared silver = 1/16 catty.

1 tael = 37.3 grams

1 tael = 10 money

Since 1 catty is equal to 16 taels, there is an idiom "half catty eight taels", which means equal, which can easily cause confusion in modern people's cognition.

The British system is widely popular in English-speaking countries and British colonies. It is the most widely used system of weights and measures in the world today. It is conducive to the development of international trade in English-speaking countries, which is convenient and trouble-free.

But there is a big trouble with the imperial system. Pints, gallons, ounces, miles, feet, etc. have a whole set of tongue-twisting nouns, which are not friendly to ordinary people who are not proficient in English.

Moreover, when the British system has reached the Chinese world, French-speaking countries and Spanish-speaking countries still have to settle accounts.

Think about it
Li Cha finally chose the metric system of weights and measures. The Tang Kingdom will promulgate laws as soon as possible to establish the legal status of the metric system of weights and measures and end the current chaos of measurement.

The second thing is that the Tang Kingdom must issue its own banknotes, which are tentatively designated as "Yuan". Since the Tang Kingdom itself is rich in gold, the value of the currency is linked to gold.

Looking at the countries in the world that have adopted the gold standard system, the gold content of their currencies varies, especially the pound sterling has the highest value.

1 pound = 7.32238 grams of gold

1 franc = 0.2903225 grams of gold

1 dollar = 1.50463 grams of gold

1 German mark = 10 German marks = 3.58425 grams of gold

1 ruble = 0.774234 grams of gold

1 yen = 0.75 grams of gold

1库平两白银=37.3克=（甲午时金银比价1：20）1.865克黄金=（1900年后金银比价1：35）1.065克黄金

1 Spanish peso = 0.507816 grams of gold

Although the British pound has the highest value, the painful value system is very inconvenient to convert, and it really makes people scratch their heads.

1英镑=20先令，1先令=12便士，也就是一英镑等于240便士。

after careful consideration
Li Cha finally determined the currency value of 1 Tang Yuan = 1.5 grams of gold, which is equivalent to about one US dollar.

1 Tang yuan = 1.5 grams of gold

1 dollar = 1.50463 grams of gold

The difference in currency value between the two parties is about 4.63‰, which is generally negligible unless the value of the currency is extremely large. By default, 1 Tang Yuan = 1 US dollar, which is also conducive to trade in North America.

1 Tang yuan = 100 Tang cents, 1 US dollar = 100 cents, this is the same, which is conducive to the smooth use and acceptance of Tang yuan currency by the general public.

Currencies related to Tang Yuan are divided into two types: coins and banknotes. Coins are divided into gold coins, silver coins and copper coins. A gold coin is worth ten Tang Yuan, weighs about 15 grams, and contains 92% gold.For large circulation and collection.

The denominations of silver coins are divided into 1 yuan and 2 yuan, and the denominations of copper coins are divided into 1 cent, 2 cents, 5 cents and 10 cents. They are used in daily commodity circulation. These two coins are the most widely used coins.

There are 1 denominations of banknotes: 2 yuan, 5 yuan, 10 yuan and 4 yuan. The price is the same as that of gold coins and can be exchanged without barriers. The above currencies are issued by Sequoia Bank and can be exchanged for the same amount of gold.

Thus

The currency of the Tang Kingdom can be integrated into the international system, and the exchange ratios with the currencies of other countries are respectively;

1英镑=25法郎=5唐元=5美元=2德国金马克=20德国马克=9卢布=10日元=4两库平银(1894年前）=7两库平银（1900后）=14比索
The conversion is;

1唐元=1美元=4先令=5法郎=4德国马克=1.8卢布=2日元=八钱银(1894年前）=1.4两库平银（1900后）=2.8西班牙比索

(End of this chapter)