Diqin Designer

Chapter 282: The First Emperor is the One Who Should Check (Two in One)

"Creating coins can indeed solve some problems, but it will also bring other problems. For example, if coins are created at will, more coins will be created, while the quantity of goods in the Qin Dynasty will not change. This will cause the prices of goods to rise, which will be more than double or even several times the current price."

Zhao Gao was puzzled and asked: "Prices are rising, but there are more coins. Doesn't that mean prices haven't risen?"

"How can it be that simple?"

Li Nian shook his head: "While prices are rising, the money in people's hands has not increased. The money they used to be able to buy a stone of millet can now only buy a few bushels. Unless the court reissues coins to the people, their property will only be lost."

Everyone understood this explanation immediately, but it would be difficult to ask the court to reissue money to the people. The people would suffer losses for no apparent reason and would surely harbor resentment in their hearts. Who knew what would happen next?

Li Nian knew the answer to this question. When 500,000 Daqin coins could not buy a bushel of rice, the "failed art students" of Daqin would appear.

Zhao Gao asked again, "Sir, how do you think we should issue coins?"

Li Nian smiled and said: "The issuance of coins is not arbitrary, but requires consideration of many aspects before making a decision, but the most fundamental factor is still the goods produced by the people, that is, the things they need in daily life, such as food, silk and linen."

“We estimate how much the people can produce, and then decide how much money to issue. We can exceed that, but not by too much.”

"If there is no actual material support, it is useless to issue more coins. On the contrary, it is harmful, unless the coins themselves can be eaten and drunk."

Everyone nodded. No matter what, if people want to live, they must eat and drink water. These are the basic needs of human survival. There won't be any big problems if they calculate based on this.

After the question and answer session between Zhao Gao and Li Nian, Chunyu Yue, who had been silent all this time, spoke up and asked a question.

"The Shangshu said that we can earn more money by depositing coins, but the wealth in the world is limited. If there is more of this, there must be less of that. How can we earn more?"

Li Nian looked at Chunyu Yue and said with a smile, "The wealth of the world is not quantified, at least not at the moment, and it can still be increased. Deputy Commander Chunyu believes that the wealth of the world is quantified, so he must think that the land in the world is quantified, so the wealth is quantified?"

Seeing Chunyu Yue nodded, Li Nian did not debate with Chunyu Yue whether there was a quota for the wealth in the world. Instead, he said, "However, the land of Great Qin is vast and the population is sparse. There are still many wastelands that can be reclaimed into farmland. It is far from the time to set a quota."

"In the future, as the population of Daqin increases, more land will be reclaimed, and more grain, silk and hemp will be produced. Isn't this an increase in Daqin's wealth?"

Chun Yuyue said: "I understand the Shangshu's intention. Now the Great Qin has not yet reached its utmost wealth, so it can still rise, so it can be earned. Moreover, even if the Great Qin has reached its utmost wealth, there are still foreign lands for the Great Qin!"

In some ways, there is nothing wrong with this understanding, and it is also beneficial to the path he wants Qin to take.

Li Nian did not refute. He said, "Therefore, for the sake of the future generations of the Qin Dynasty, we need to go out and fight for more land for them."

Since the wealth of the world is limited, it is definitely better for Daqin to fight for a larger share than to let other ethnic groups or countries take it away and then let Daqin starve!

When countries fight against each other, and when nations fight against each other, there is rarely any tenderness or affection. Most of the time it is a fight of iron and blood. In this situation, it is definitely better to see others die than to see one's own people die.

Sometimes, there is no difference between the conflicts in the human world and the conflicts between the Trisolarans and the people on Earth. For example, after the collapse of a former Asian government, scientists in the country began to be killed, just like the Trisolarans did to the Earth civilization.

After these episodes, the topic returned to the issue of coinage.

After listening for a long time, the First Emperor said, "Li Nian, you said you want to make money with paper. Do you think this is feasible?"

Li Nian understood what the First Emperor meant by asking this question: people in later generations would probably use paper to make coins, but the Qin Dynasty was not the later generations. It was too different from the later generations, and the situation was very different. What was a good thing in the later generations might become a bad thing if done in the Qin Dynasty.

However, the proposal to create paper money was not a sudden whim of Li Nian's, but he thought that it might be feasible in the current situation of Daqin.

Li Nian replied: "I dare not say for sure, but I think this matter is feasible."

"First, the technology of papermaking was not open to the public and was unknown to others. It was unique to the Qin Dynasty and could not be made by other people or countries.

"Secondly, paper is a rare commodity in the eyes of the people of Daqin. This provides the basis for it to be recognized as currency. As for whether other countries are willing to accept it, I think they will!"

"Not to mention that they may need something from Daqin or fear Daqin, so they will accept it. But if you tell them that Daqin is the most advanced and powerful country in the world, they will also accept it."

"The advanced and powerful often attract the backward, making them emulate the Qin Dynasty, imitate the Qin Dynasty, learn from the Qin Dynasty, and pursue everything the Qin Dynasty has."

"When they see that Daqin is issuing paper money and its people are using it, they will regard it as a trend and accept it."

"There is a saying that goes 'what the superior likes, the subordinates will follow'. This is also true for powerful countries and backward countries. When they see the strength of the Qin Dynasty, they will definitely imitate it and think that everything in the Qin Dynasty is good, maybe even the air is sweet."

Everyone knows what air is, but they don’t know what this person means when he suddenly says “air is sweet”?
Only the First Emperor and his two companions understood that this must have come from later generations, probably something that happened in the Chinese nation in later generations. It is very likely that it was created by some Chinese citizen in later generations who was pursuing the most powerful country in later generations that was not China.

Although more than two thousand years have passed, the Qin Dynasty can still be considered the ancestor of the Chinese people in later generations.

The Emperor and his two companions felt unhappy when they thought that their descendants in the future would worship a foreigner to such an extent.

This kind of thing must never happen in Daqin. We must make other nations look up to Daqin and feel that the air in Daqin is sweet!
"Third, the prestige of the Great Qin and your Majesty is very high in the world. If your Majesty announces that the Great Qin will issue a new currency, there will not be much obstacles;"

These words made Ying Zheng feel quite comfortable. That's right, I am the most powerful emperor in the world, respected by all the people.

The prestige of the First Emperor is indeed very high now, especially among the old Qin people.

Every day, the old Qin people would run to the outside of the palace to kowtow, and some even offered gifts to the First Emperor, including the grains, fruits, livestock, and game they grew.

If this were history as it should have happened, they would not have spit on him because they did not dare to do so for fear of losing their heads, but they would have hated the First Emperor to death in their hearts.

"Fourth, even if someone figures out how to make paper in the future, there is no need to worry too much about it being copied, because I am here to provide Daqin with anti-counterfeiting technology, which will be difficult for those imitators to imitate."

Li Nian said this with great confidence. He was a time traveler with a golden finger, and he had the support of the First Emperor. He also had so many capable people under him. If he still failed, then the other party must have cheated as well. He had to catch him to see if he was a "fellow villager".

"And making paper and making paper money are two completely different things. Making money requires more and more complicated techniques."

Modern paper currency is almost a collection of the country's advanced technologies. Although it is not necessary to be so advanced in Daqin, the technology that Li Nian has come up with cannot be easily cracked and imitated by other people or countries.

Chunyu Yue seemed to have thought of something at this time, and asked another question: "Excuse me, Shangshu, will paper be popularized in the world in the future, or not?" Li Nian thought for a while and said, "I know what Deputy Order Chunyu meant. Deputy Order Chunyu is not asking whether paper should be popularized in the world. He is actually asking me, if paper is popularized in the world, it will not be a rare thing in people's eyes, then will paper money still be accepted by people?"

Chun Yuyue shook his head and said, "It is not only asking whether paper should be popularized throughout the world, but also whether paper money can still be accepted by the people."

From his perspective, Chunyu Yue hoped that paper could become popular throughout the world.

Because this is the only way to educate the people and make everyone literate. Even if they are not studying their Confucian classics, it doesn't matter.

Hearing Chunyu Yue's words, Li Nian was filled with awe. Although he had always been considered a clown by many people in history, he was also a man of firm ambitions.

Moreover, Chunyu Yue has changed a lot now. He is the deputy commander of the Censorate and jointly controls the Imperial Censorate with Zhao Gao.

What happened at the radio station?
Perhaps it was because he was exposed to first-hand information from the people, which had some impact on his original ideas and concepts, and then they changed. Although it was impossible for him to change completely at once, he would not always be thinking about asking Qin Shihuang to restore the Zhou rituals.

This is also good. Li Nian does not want to destroy Confucianism, nor does he want to take action against the other schools of thought. Rather, he hopes that they can change with the times and become a force like the Qin Dynasty or something more beneficial to China.

That is the most brilliant page in the history of Chinese civilization among all the schools of thought!
If possible, Li Nian hopes that they can continue to write about China.

Thinking about this, Li Nian smiled and said, "So that's the case. I think Deputy Commander Chunyu doesn't have to worry, because when paper became popular, paper money was already accustomed to by people and became a consensus, just like copper can be cast into coins now."

“Although paper money is made of paper, no one would think that paper money will depreciate just because paper is no longer rare!”

Wang Ben asked: "What if other countries or individuals master the method of making paper money? It is not to imitate the Qin Dynasty's paper money, but to issue the paper money they use."

Li Nian gave an answer that no one expected: "This is an inevitable trend, and I can't completely stop it, unless the whole world belongs to Daqin and Daqin currency becomes the only designated legal currency, but this is impossible!"

It might be possible for the Qin Dynasty to colonize some parts of the world in a few decades, but it would be difficult to occupy the entire world. If it could not unify the world, independent countries would definitely issue their own currencies.

"What Daqin needs to do is to slow down this trend and establish currency hegemony before other countries react."

"Da Qin can allow them to have their own currency, but Da Qin's currency must be used as the common currency of all countries. When trading between countries, they must use Da Qin's currency for settlement."

In fact, even if it was not targeting other countries, the Qin Dynasty would still have to carry out currency reform.

Although the Qin Dynasty unified the world, it was not around for long and had no time to manage the currencies of the six countries, resulting in the fact that today the world still uses a mixture of currencies from the seven countries.

Moreover, the coins currently circulating among the people are easily counterfeited. How can the right to mint coins fall into the hands of others? It should naturally be returned to the central government.

This is also the reason why Li Nian proposed to make new currency. Even if paper money is not made, Daqin must make new currency to unify the chaotic currency of Daqin.

Li Si, who had been silent for a long time, said, "According to what the Shangshu said, to deposit money, calculate the interest, and earn more money by depositing money, I'm afraid we need to set up another department?"

Hearing Li Si's question, Li Nian sighed, "Here it comes!" He didn't like banks, but he also knew that the trend of history was moving forward. Some things could be reversed, but some could not be changed. Even if he didn't propose banks now, there would be money houses and ticket offices in the future, which would then develop into banks in later generations.

And because of the changes he brought to Daqin, it would also accelerate the emergence of banks, unless all the changes he brought were erased, that is, he died and was buried along with the changes he had caused, destroying his body, extinguishing his spirit, and eliminating all traces of him.

Li Nian said: "We do need to set up another department. This department should be in charge of the issuance, exchange, storage, and borrowing of the world's currency... If this department is established, it will be very important!"

Li Nian did not want to apply all the functions of banks in later generations. This was because he did not want the bank's authority to be too large and needed to be restricted. Also, the technology at that time could not be compared with that of later generations and could not be used even if he wanted to.

"Issuance and storage, you all know that 'exchange' means that if new money is issued, the old money held by the people can be exchanged for new money here. It is not good to just destroy the old money held by the people."

It is possible to directly abolish the old money held by the people, but the consequences will be serious. Once the money in the hands of many people becomes worthless, it may provoke civil unrest.

"'Loan' means lending the money stored in this department to people in need and charging a certain amount of interest. This is also recorded in the Zhou Li. Deputy Commander Chunyu should know more about it than Li!"

Chunyu Yue nodded and admitted, "There is indeed a record that 'Quanfu is in charge of collecting cloth from the market, collecting unsold goods from the market, and buying goods that are unavailable to the people. For those who borrow money, it is not allowed to exceed ten days for sacrifices and three months for funerals. For those who borrow money from the people, it is granted after discussion with the relevant officials, and the interest is paid in the form of national tribute.'"

Loans and interest have existed for a long time and are nothing new. Moreover, this "Quanfu" is an official under the Situ, in charge of national taxation, purchasing unsaleable materials in the market, etc., which is already considered official lending.

Li Nian continued, "This department has great power and responsibility, so it must be subject to restrictions. For example, if someone wants to save money, they must reach a certain amount before they can save. The same is true for borrowing. Only when the situation is confirmed and it is believed that the person has the ability to repay can we lend money to him."

This not only limits the number of people who deposit and borrow money in banks and reduces risks, but also suppresses the power of banks.

Although there was no institution named "bank" in the dynasties before the Qin Dynasty, its functions did exist, but they were divided into various official positions or departments. If these functions were taken out and combined together, it would be a bank.

The First Emperor said: "What Li Nian said does make sense, and it sounds feasible, but Laozi once said, 'Governing a large country is like cooking a small fish', so don't act hastily..."

The Emperor's eyes fell on Li Nian, and he said, "This department can be established, and the new currency should be minted, but it cannot be implemented throughout the country immediately. It can be verified in a certain place first. If it is feasible, it can be promoted to the whole country."

After all, these are all new things to the Qin Dynasty. How can they be casually promoted throughout the country?

Even if he believed that Li Nian had not lied to him and did not want to harm Daqin, and that the suggestions he made were for the good of Daqin, Li Nian's judgment of this era might not be completely correct, and he still had to put the final stamp on it.

Li Nian sighed in his heart that the First Emperor had changed a lot, and he even told others not to be anxious. It was obvious that after the Qin Dynasty unified the world, he was the most anxious, and wanted to quickly implement the Qin law, quickly implement the county system, and quickly turn the world into the shape of the Qin Dynasty...

The first emperor said: "The new currency cannot be entirely paper money, it must be issued with both metal coins and paper money."

Li Nian understood the purpose of Qin Shi Huang's doing this. In case paper money didn't work, there was still new metal currency as a backup, so that all investments would not be wiped out.

The First Emperor said: "Wang Wan, you discuss this matter with the Ministry of State and Li Nian, and submit it to me after the agreement is reached! Also, how to train..."

After a pause, the First Emperor continued, "Pro-Qin talents, Li Nian should also come up with a concrete and feasible plan as soon as possible. I have received the latest news that the Xiongnu have sent people over, and those 'international students' you mentioned will be here soon."

Wang Wan and Li Nian bowed and said, "We obey your order!"

(End of this chapter)