Industrial Revolution of the Mage Lords

Chapter 652 Policy Reactions
"Your Majesty, the new currency transported by the Independent Regiment of Aerial Combat Mages has now arrived in cities throughout the kingdom."

Reiner, carrying a thick stack of reports, entered Harvey's office and bowed as he reported.

Five days had passed between the enactment of the decree and its official issuance. The mint had almost emptied its banknotes, which had been printed and minted three months in advance, just enough to distribute to the entire kingdom... so that the new coins could be distributed to the people as wages on payday for administrative agencies, factories, and farms.

In addition to paying the salaries of workers in state-owned industries, local government offices and banks also needed to reserve a portion of the new currency to deal with spontaneous exchanges by local residents. These discarded gold, silver, and copper coins would be weighed and melted down on the spot into crude gold, silver, and copper ingots, which would then be escorted back to the capital by the military and recast into a unified "foreign exchange" currency.

"Local government departments and banks should closely monitor the exchange rate of new currency during this period..."

In any case, this bold implementation of currency reform carries significant risks for a country that has just changed its rulers and undergone a major class reshuffle. Moreover, the political situation in the southern kingdoms is turbulent, and they face powerful and unpredictable foreign tribes. At this critical juncture, breaking with convention and forcibly implementing currency reform could damage the prestige he has built up in the hearts of the common people if not handled carefully.

"Your Majesty, rest assured, I personally oversee every step. Those political apprentices I personally trained in the past have now been assigned to administrative offices in various regions to keep a close eye on the situation for us."

Reiner has always been optimistic about the new currency policy. The initial currency issuance, which he and Asdaren personally calculated, was strictly equivalent to the quarterly salary payments made by state-owned enterprises.

The people who worked diligently for the emperor's estate naturally didn't care that their next month's salary would be exchanged for new gold dollars instead of old paper money. As long as the amount remained the same and the purchasing power was equal, they would at most go to the bank to exchange some newly issued coins for small change.

As for the nobles and wealthy merchants who already held large amounts of gold and silver coins, since they were unlikely to have accumulated too much paper money beforehand, there was no need to worry about them triggering a large-scale bank run.

Asdaren agreed wholeheartedly, chuckling as he said, “Your Majesty need not worry. Even if a bank run occurs, the gold and silver collected from across the country in the Kingdom’s treasury will be more than enough to cover it. After all, over the years, whether it’s export trade or foreign wars, we have almost always had good profits. The gold and silver coins from all over the southern region are almost overflowing in the treasury.”

He paused, blinked the deep red soul fire in his eyes, and added in a low voice, "Besides... even if someone tries to incite chaos, there are secret police watching them all the time."

After a moment's thought, the Deputy Minister of Commerce, Elliott, who was sitting at the lower end of the conference table, stood up and cautiously reported: "We were worried that the demonetization order would affect domestic trade, but now it seems that it was completely unnecessary... After learning that the demonetization order had been issued, even if the goods brought in from abroad were sold out, the chambers of commerce were reluctant to exchange the gold dollars they received for old gold coins. They preferred to use them again to purchase goods and go through the trouble of shipping them back to their home countries for sale."

After all, for merchants, a 10% tax is pure profit in real money, and they would never be willing to cut their losses unless absolutely necessary.

This back-and-forth actually facilitated the rapid dumping of Saint Valen's goods into the southern kingdoms, while also boosting the busy shipping routes from Starfire City to the southern border. Large numbers of merchants lined up to rent ironclad ships, almost breaking down the doors of the import and export companies.

If it weren't for the strict laws prohibiting the export of grain, they would even be willing to use all their earnings to buy high-quality wheat from Saint Valencia, making it a virtually guaranteed profit-making venture. With this in mind, Harvey finally felt relieved, tapped his fingers twice on the table, and began a new discussion.

"The annual trade fair is about to begin. Has the list of attendees been compiled yet?"

Reiner quickly stood up and said, "The statistics have already been compiled, but... Your Majesty, you promised that, apart from the Dragonstone Merchant Guild, the Pharos Royal Merchant Guild, and the Andrew Merchant Guild, the monopoly rights for the procurement and sale of goods for all other merchant guilds would only be granted for one year... Now, before the trade fair has even started, these people have already come to the capital to inquire everywhere, wanting to confirm whether you will continue to grant them the monopoly rights for similar goods."

Harvey chuckled and shook his head, saying, "They've tasted a little success with me and started pushing their luck... Tell these cunning guys... since their privileges have expired, they can wait to compete fairly with their peers during the trade fair."

Elliott rose again and said cautiously, “Your Majesty, recently many merchants have been asking if you would be willing to grant permission to sell agricultural and sideline products other than grains… especially livestock and processed meat products.”

For the people of the South who are not involved in politics and ordinary merchants, ironclad ships and magic-powered machines are rare and distant things... In contrast, the most popular and talked-about items in their daily lives are the anti-epidemic medicine with effects comparable to miracles, the high-quality Harvest No. 1 wheat produced by Saint Valentine, the famous Icefield Vodka, and the highly durable and diverse processed canned goods.

At the beginning of the founding of the capital, Starfire City experienced the most rapid population growth. The biggest concern for both the Ministry of State and the Ministry of Agriculture was how to feed the more than 100,000 people who filled the capital. At the same time, they also had to take into account the possible food shortages and seasonal famines in various parts of the kingdom. They simply could not spare any food quota for foreign trade.

With the comprehensive development of the Eastern Expansion Base, coupled with the widespread adoption of demonized grains and mechanized planting throughout the kingdom, the predicament of food shortages was quickly reversed. Apart from barley and wheat, which are of great importance to the nation, there was finally a large surplus of livestock breeding, aquatic fishing, sugar, salt, spices, and various agricultural and sideline products and processed foods.

Harvey felt that... it was time to find some outlets and sales channels for these excess agricultural production capacities.

"Foreign trade in agricultural and sideline products and processed foods can be fully opened to the Chamber of Commerce at this exhibition, but the right to purchase and sell still needs to be openly bid on, and the highest bidder wins."

He paused, then suddenly raised his hand and pointed at Ash, who had been huddled in the corner of the conference hall, and asked, "Those two sea creature envoys... when they visited the Ministry of Agriculture a few days ago, they mentioned that their tribe has a type of sea silkworm that only lives in the sea. Go and ask them if the technology for raising sea silkworms can be applied to the ice silkworms of the North. The Ministry of Agriculture has been at a loss about this lately."

With the scene of the mass death of ice silkworms replaying in his mind, Agriculture Minister Anbic, who had been daydreaming throughout the meeting, suddenly snapped back to reality... only to realize that His Majesty had actually offered him advice. He quickly turned to Ash with a pleading look.

(End of this chapter)