Armor-piercing bullets don't believe in carbon-based monsters

Chapter 374 The Question of Money
mountain city.

"The first step is to produce a large quantity of basic necessities and establish a basic centralized trading system."

"The second step is to broaden trade routes, establish logistics hubs, and accelerate population movement."

"The third step is to strengthen infrastructure, expand the scale of towns, and create differentiated living areas."

"The fourth step is to attract people to stay and expand the city's size."

"The fifth step is to strengthen the city's cultural attributes and eliminate religious influence."

"We will build this city in five steps."

“This is the real Spark Project – it must be large enough and detailed enough.”

"Abstract concepts alone cannot save the world; we must take concrete actions."

Standing outside the temporary command post, Chen Jian watched as tools were manufactured in the underground factory of the mountain city and continuously transported to the surface, and said:
"We are now in the first step, which is the manufacturing of daily necessities."

"However, these products are still too easy to saturate the market."

"The entire world has only a population of around a million, and many of them are people we cannot reach and do not have purchasing power. It is too slow to rely solely on everyday tools to create irreplaceable products."

"The best solution is still to use guns and bullets."

"After all, everyone needs this; it's a real necessity in this world."

"It is indeed a necessity."

He Shuo nodded at first, but then spoke again:
"As long as we can solve the current resource bottleneck problem, we will quickly become the world's largest arms dealer."

"At that time, naturally, our mountain city will become the center of the world."

"However, we now have a real problem that needs to be solved."

"These merchants don't know what we need."

"The supplies they bring to trade are still from the wasteland era."

"What used batteries, what light bulbs that can light up, what gold?"

"Of course, gold is good, and we can use it as a benchmark currency."

"However, if we want to establish our centralized system, we must launch our own currency."

"really."

Chen Jian nodded thoughtfully, then raised his hand and called out:
"Ji Xing, come here!"

Ji Xing, who was assisting with the resettlement, or rather the handling of, the pilgrims who had just arrived in the mountain city, turned around upon hearing this and walked towards the two people who were discussing.

"Captain."

Ji Xing looked at Chen Jian:

"whats the matter?"

"We want to issue currency in the mountain city and establish a centralized financial system."

Chen Jian replied:
"I will have Fuxi design a basic framework for this, but he still doesn't know enough about the wasteland, especially some details, which we can't possibly provide him with complete information."

"So, I need your advice."

"My suggestion?"

Ji Xing was taken aback for a moment, then frowned and said:

"To be honest, issuing currency under the current circumstances is not a good option."

"Or rather, 'locking up currency' is not a very good option."

"What do you mean?"

Chen Jian asked:

"You mean, 'cannot lock up currency'? You mean multiple currencies running concurrently?"

"Do not."

Ji Xing shook his head and replied:

“Even parallel processing is not feasible.”

"Commander, I think you may not understand the situation at the bottom of this world."

"Although the Huaxia Army has experienced very difficult times, from beginning to end we have never lacked resources or food."

"We are always rich. We only need to think about how to eliminate the monsters, but we don't need to think about how we should survive if we can't defeat the monsters."

"However, the other people in the wasteland will consider it."

Even the wealthiest businessmen have to consider this issue.

"And there is only one answer to this question: eliminate all uncertain risks."

"Why, after so many years, has gold only been used as a means of measuring value and has never become a true 'currency'? This is the root cause."

"Because even the smallest piece of gold can become a burden that drags you down in the most urgent situations."

"But bullets and food are not a concern."

"You always have to shoot, and you always have to eat."

"If, by chance, both of these things can be involved in the transaction, then tell me, would you choose bullets and food, or gold?"

"really."

Chen Jian let out a heavy sigh.

In fact, he had noticed this problem a long time ago, but he had never had time to think about it more deeply.

But now it seems that this problem is indeed quite serious.

An unstable environment would completely stifle the development of a monetary economy. Let alone issuing new currency, even simply strengthening the status of gold would be difficult to accept in such a situation.

You want to exchange gold for goods with the merchant?
No, they won't agree.

They will act swiftly, directly exchanging all the gold in the mountain city for the goods they need.

What should I do?
Without a sound monetary system, the transaction efficiency of the entire mountain town would be severely reduced.

At that point, let alone establishing a commercial hub, even maintaining stable commercial operations will consume a lot of unnecessary resources.
"And what's your opinion?"

Chen Jian asked:
"Using bullets as currency?"

"The problem with this plan is that we will inevitably have to manufacture different types of bullets."

How should the value of different bullets be defined?

"You can't have one price for 9mm bullets and another for 7.62mm bullets, can you?"

"No need."

A slight smile appeared on Ji Xing's lips.

She has thought it through.

"All bullets have the same value, as long as it can be confirmed that we produced them."

"We can do some special designs on the bullets, such as putting our markings on the primer."

"No matter what type of bullet it is, it's all the same price."

"So, when bullets gradually become 'surplus' and supply exceeds demand, they will find that the monetary attributes of this thing gradually begin to outweigh its practical attributes."

"They would complain that the bullets were too heavy, and that they were inconvenient to carry and count."

"At that time, it will be time for us to launch a real currency."

"Bullet Coins".

After saying this, Chen Jian couldn't help but give Ji Xing a thumbs up.

"can."

"This approach is entirely feasible!"

"No need to wait - there is a production line underground in the mountain city, it's just temporarily lacking raw materials."

"Let's first use up our ammunition reserves, and then in this round of transactions, we'll issue our currency."

"understand!"

Ji Xing nodded solemnly.

"I'll take the extra money with me to handle this matter."

“I have a better idea than just ‘transaction’.”

Two hours later.

Pilgrims' shelter camp.

Ji Xing, along with Yu Qian and several soldiers from the volunteer company, stood at the entrance of this spontaneously formed camp, with several boxes of opened bullets behind them.

She looked around; all the pilgrims had a hint of fear in their eyes.
-
To be honest, no one could see such a scene without being terrified.

The soldiers, armed to the teeth and loaded with bullets, looked like they were about to have a good time shooting at a target.

The pilgrims standing at the front were even trembling, but their strong belief and faith still kept them standing.

Ji Xing shook his head, feeling both helpless and exasperated. Just as he was about to speak, a figure rushed over from afar. "Wait!"

"and many more!"

Ji Xing turned around and saw that the person who came was Guo Xu.

His face was filled with disbelief, and his expression carried a hint of shock and fear.

"Chief Ji Xing, what are you trying to do?"

Guo Xu, panting heavily, stood in front of Ji Xing and said impatiently:

“They are just pilgrims. If you don’t want them to stay, I can take them with me!”

"I've already spoken with Commander Yu Qian, and our discussion went very well!"

"You need to give us time, even if it's just to leave, we need time, right?"

You cannot.

"Wait a minute."

Ji Xing raised his hand to interrupt Guo Xu, and then said:

"You don't think I'm going to kill them, do you? Where did you hear this ridiculous rumor?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Guo Xu was stunned.

"Isn't it?"

“A bishop rushed to me with a message, saying you brought men here, damn it!”

At this point, Guo Xu had clearly understood the situation.

He cursed under his breath, slightly annoyed, and then said to Ji Xing:
"Sorry, sorry!"

"I was overthinking it. I'll punish that bishop when I get back."

"But seriously, what are you guys trying to do?"

Ji Xing pointed to the bullets behind him and replied:

"Isn't it obvious?"

"Fire bullets!"

"Fire bullets??"

Guo Xu was dumbfounded.

"Send it to them? Why?"

"Most of them don't have automatic weapons, so what use are these bullets to them?"

"Some of them don't even have weapons!"

"This is currency."

Ji Xing said bluntly:
"Now that they're here, we can't just watch them die, can we?"

"We have to give them food to eat, we have to let them live."

"But we can't possibly provide them with the same level of relief as we would for refugees—do we expect them to bring food to their mouths every day?"

"So we use bullets as currency."

“We will give them some bullets, which can be used to exchange for food.”

"Of course, they can also exchange other things."

"For example, guns—but I advise you to keep them under control. If any unnecessary bloodshed occurs here, our countermeasures will not be as simple as just expulsion."

"understand!"

Guo Xu completely relaxed.

Meanwhile, Yu Qian had already begun leading his men to distribute bullets to the pilgrims.

The moment they received the bullets, almost every pilgrim was stunned.

They didn't understand what this meant.

Are we supposed to use these bullets to make us kill ourselves?
But soon, Yu Qian began to explain.

At this point, the pilgrims began to have disagreements.

Upon hearing that bullets could be exchanged for food, some people threw their bullets on the ground to show that they did not accept the charity of these "heretics" from the Chinese army.

But some people secretly picked up the bullets that had fallen to the ground and hid them in their pockets.

Yu Qian ignored it, and Ji Xing was even less inclined to give it a second glance.

She didn't care what these people thought; all she knew was that once bullets were issued as currency, they would definitely be collected back through some means.

Guo Xu, however, still harbored some doubts about this.

"So, would this method of using bullets as currency actually be useful?"

"Most people would just hide the bullets and sell them to merchants for a higher price, right?"

After he finished speaking, Ji Xing smiled mysteriously.

Then she asked:
"Why don't you go to the market and take a look?"

"can!"

Guo Xu nodded decisively, and the two walked together toward the market. At this time, the market, which was not very large, was already crowded with merchants who had just arrived.

They were among the first merchants to enter the country after the road opened, and also among the most daring.

It is precisely these characteristics that make them more accepting of "bullet currency".

Bullets were circulating throughout the market, and initially, some businessmen did doubt their "value."

Because, based on the current exchange ratio in the mountain city market, the total value of the bullets distributed to them for purchasing the supplies they brought is actually higher than the total value of the supplies.

They doubted whether these Chinese soldiers would actually retrieve the bullets.

Or is it that they simply want to use this exchange method to sell off a large number of bullets they have stockpiled?

Of course, even so, they are guaranteed to make a profit.

After all, bullets are a rare commodity, no matter where you look.

If we can't sell them here, we can always take them back to Nanjing to sell.

As a result, all the merchants accepted the proposal to replace currency with bullets.

However, this alone is not enough to keep the market running.

At a certain moment, a certain merchant discovered the new goods launched by the Chinese army.

A multi-functional entrenching tool.

He loved this thing so much; he knew its value all too well.

If taken to other parts of the world, this shovel might be as valuable as the longsword used by the Holy Blood.

Here, it only requires 5 bullets.

Or 4 catties of pig iron.

He didn't have any pig iron, but he had plenty of bullets.

The transaction began immediately.

After the first transaction was completed, the second and third transactions followed in quick succession.

The demand for entrenching tools surged instantly, and then suddenly, at a certain moment, the price of entrenching tools began to rise.

No, this was not the Chinese military that voluntarily adjusted prices. Rather, it was after the first batch of entrenching tools sold out and the Chinese military announced that it would not manufacture any more in the short term that merchants began internal transactions based on risk hedging.

This caused the price of entrenching tools to skyrocket from 5 bullets to 15 bullets, and at that moment, everyone saw through one thing.

Bullets have value.

It can buy things.

The more bargaining chips you have, the greater the benefits you can secure.

The profit-seeking nature of businessmen erupted instantly, and from that moment on, no one thought about the true purpose of bullets anymore.

Because that's what money is.

Guo Xu watched the whole thing.

He took a deep breath and then slowly exhaled.

Then he began to speak:
"I'm completely convinced by you guys now."

"But then again..."

"I also want one of those entrenching tools for our missionaries to use."

So, is it really true that there aren't any left?

(End of this chapter)