Infrastructure Throne

North Jicheng.

This is an ordinary house in the south of the city. A small part of the courtyard wall collapsed in the beast tide. The owner of the house barely covered the damaged gap after mixing with yellow mud, gravel and water.

The host's surname is Qin, who used to be a descendant of a small nobleman in Beiji City. Although his family is in the middle of nowhere, at least he has land and shops in his family, and his life is fairly well off.

It's a pity that a beast tide destroyed the crops in the Qin family's fields, and the tenant farmers hired by the family couldn't bear the heavy rent, so they fled to Yuanliu City.

The once good life is gone forever, the family can only rely on the shop to make ends meet, put the land in the name of the nobles to avoid taxes, and live a tight life, but it is much better than those poor people in the city who live and sleep .

That evening, at the back door of the Qin family's courtyard, a woman with a child was walking back and forth anxiously, looking towards the entrance of the alley.

After waiting for a long time, the husband pushing the cart finally came back in a hurry, with a burlap bundle in his arms, and as soon as he entered the yard, he closed the back door tightly.

The woman grabbed her husband's sleeve: "Have you bought it?"

"I bought them all." The husband was very happy, and moved three wooden boxes from the trolley.

When the wooden cover was lifted, several cotton cloths and sweaters were neatly stacked inside. In another box, a pile of briquettes was piled up neatly. The last box was full of potatoes the size of two fists.

The man spread the burden on the table, an old kerosene lamp, a magnifying glass, a jar of sugar, and a dozen boxes of matches.

The woman picked potatoes in amazement: "It's so big, it will last a long time. Will it be too expensive to buy so many?"

The man smiled: "It's not expensive. Such a big box of potatoes costs only a few dozen copper coins, which is much cheaper than in the city."

The woman counted the items skillfully, showing satisfaction with the textiles, and patted the folds of the sweater: "I heard that it is cheaper to buy clothes out of season. I will take them to the yard to dry in the yard tomorrow. In winter, I will get them again." Come out and wear it."

"These things are enough for our family to use for a long time. They are sold on the black market more expensive than in Yuanliu City, but they are also more cost-effective than the shops opened by those black-hearted nobles in the city. Just save some matches."

The husband took a sip of water panting, carefully took out a few palm-sized banknotes from his pocket, rolled them up and handed them to his wife: "Put it away."

The woman looked at him suspiciously: "What is this?"

"Money, paper money." Husband Gululu wiped his mouth with a glass of water, "It's money from Yuanliu City. It's five yuan and eighty cents in total. I spent nearly seven silver coins in exchange for it."

The woman was startled: "Just these few pieces of paper? Seven silver coins? Are you crazy?"

The husband didn't think it was disobedient, and proudly raised his chin:

"You don't understand this. Abyss City has issued new regulations. All commodities are no longer traded with gold and silver coins, but are all changed to paper money. If you buy with silver coins, you will no longer be able to buy them."

"I have a business friend who settled down in Yuanliu City. As soon as I heard about this, I immediately exchanged some Yuanliu coins with him. Now on the black market in the city, if you receive a Yuanliu coin with a denomination of five yuan, it will cost Six silver coins plus fifty copper coins, a full [-]% premium."

"Fortunately, I exchanged them early and sold these papers on the black market. We can still make some money. In my opinion, the price will increase in the future."

The woman thought about it in her heart, and her attitude immediately changed 180 degrees:

"Then can you trade some with your friend? It's fine if you don't buy anything, but store it."

The husband shook his head regretfully: "It can't be exchanged, and my friend's paper money is limited. If others offer more silver coins to buy from him, why should he sell it to me?"

The woman sighed, and couldn't help but scolded the nobles in the city:

"These cannibalistic things, the tax and rent are getting higher and higher every day, and the food, salt and sugar in the city are all expensive every day. If we don't have to eat them, why should we secretly buy Yuanliu?" City stuff!"

The woman's child was holding a few grains and was feeding the free-range chickens and ducks in the yard. Hearing his mother's complaint, he silently withdrew his hand of spreading the grains. Chickens and ducks can hardly be fed.

The hens laid eggs and sold them in the market, but few people came to buy them. Everyone said that the eggs in Yuanliu City were good and cheap, so why buy retail ones?

While talking, the woman wiped away her tears: "Tomorrow is the day to collect business tax, and fewer and fewer people will come to buy things. Our shop can't make much money at all, and we have to pay half of it to the City Lord's Mansion... ..."

The woman gritted her teeth: "Originally ten copper coins could buy five candles, but now there are only two or three. If this continues, we will no longer be able to afford candles. Those black-hearted candle merchants, I wish them bankruptcy as soon as possible!"

"Fortunately, the daily necessities in Abyss City are cheap. At night, with a kerosene lamp, I can mend clothes for others and subsidize the family."

The man comforted his wife: "Speaking of which, when I came back, I passed by the candle shop in the south of the city, and it seemed that no one really bought it."

After hearing this, the woman didn't show much joy, she just sighed a long time: "If life can't go on, let's pack up and go to Yuanliu City."

※※※

A prophecy.

The Chengnan candle shop that the couple talked about had no customers for several days.

This shop and the candle workshop behind it are actually owned by a Viscount in Beiji City.

After the beast tide, although the Viscount kept most of his property, the tenant farmers, servants, and slaves he hired either died in the beast tide or went into exile to Yuanliu City.

That's all, the city's population has dropped sharply, and people's livelihood has declined, which directly makes candle business more and more difficult to do.

Fortunately, in the entire southern part of the city, there was only this candle shop. The Viscount relied on monopolizing the candle market, increasing the selling price, and at the same time reducing the wages of craftsmen to grab profits, barely maintaining a decent life as an aristocrat.

However, "the good times don't last long", as Yuanliu City successively fought against the beast tide and the battle against Mingzhu City, it became famous in World War II. The impact of cheap goods.

The influx of kerosene lamps and matches into the North Jicheng market almost made the locally produced flint and candles disappear from the stage of history. In addition, various textile and handicraft workshops faced the same dilemma.

Behind these industries, there are figures of the upper-class nobles of Beiji City.

Their response was very quick, and the response was quite simple - learn from Pearl City and prohibit the inflow of goods from Yuanliu City, so as to protect the interests of local merchants and nobles.

Unfortunately, where there are profits, there are speculators.

The nobles are not all of the same mind. The city lord's mansion prohibits smuggling in public, but smuggling in private is repeatedly prohibited.

Not only do commoners need daily necessities, but nobles also need high-quality silk, glassware, ceramics, glasses and clocks from Yuanliu City.

Due to the strong market demand, the smuggling of Yuanliu City's light industrial products has almost formed an industrial chain, and the nobles and smugglers involved in it have made a lot of money, and the people have thus reduced their living costs. .

Compared with the increasingly depressed bazaar, the black market business has become more and more prosperous.

What annoyed the city lord's mansion the most was that this kind of smuggling bypassed the commercial tax. They didn't pay a dime of tax, and it all went into the pockets of speculators.

The profiteers made money, Yuanliu City made a lot of money, and the people seemed to make a small profit, as if everyone was happy. Who would lose in the end?

Seeing that the Viscount who runs the candle workshop is about to face the crisis of bankruptcy, he has an idea, since he can't beat it, then why don't I join!

As a result, more and more nobles secretly joined the ranks of smugglers, buying Yuanliu City's products through various channels, and then selling them at higher prices to earn the difference. The trading ban of the City Lord's Mansion is like a dead letter.

At this moment, Yuanliu City reported the establishment of a bank and the issuance of banknotes. This blockbuster severely impacted the black smuggling market in Beiji City!

It is no longer possible to go directly to Yuanliu City to buy goods with gold and silver coins. You have to exchange them for banknotes, or spend more money to buy goods from Erdao dealers.

The initial batch of speculative profiteers quickly sensed the opportunity to grab a lot of profits.

They united with the nobles, exchanged news, coupled with a certain degree of acquiescence within Yuanliu City, and Lu Sanshu, a former Beiji City businessman, helped build a bridge. Soon, a group of brand new Yuanliu appeared on the black market of Beiji City. currency.

Under the game of multiple forces, little by little was fired up at a high price.

A caring person carefully calculated an account. He first exchanged gold and silver from Yuanliu City Bank for banknotes of the same amount, and then resold them to the black market in Beiji City. He could immediately earn [-]% of the difference.

He reused the gold and silver he earned to continue to exchange for banknotes, and this cycle went on and on, wouldn't he make a lot of money?

These profiteers may not really understand the laws and risks behind it, but the principle of buying at a low price and selling at a high price is common.

Since Yuanliu City Bank sets a limit for exchanging banknotes every day, and the total amount will never exceed the grain and reserves in the warehouse, the residents themselves have to consume, and only a small part can flow into other places.

Beiji City's demand for Yuanliu coins is increasing day by day, and each of them firmly believes that tomorrow will be more valuable than today.

Yuanliu coins of one yuan can buy far more goods in Beiji City than can be bought with one silver coin, but everyone is unwilling to spend it, instead hiding it, secretly praying that it will continue to appreciate in value tomorrow.

Soon, there was a wave of hoarding Yuanliu coins in the black market in Beiji City. No one was willing to sell them in advance. If you sell them early, you will lose money.

Here, Yuanliu currency is appreciating wildly at an almost deformed premium, as if there is an invisible hand quietly pushing it behind.

As time went by, a large amount of gold and silver flowed from Beiji City to Yuanliu City, and what they got in exchange was only some cheap goods and stacks of beautiful paper.

※※※

Beiji City, City Lord's Mansion.

The pillars carved with white jade, the curtains with velvet tassels, the antique vases made of ivory white porcelain, and the large hollow wrought iron chandelier with 24 white candles in the center all highlight the luxury of the conference hall.

A servant knelt on the ground and repeatedly cleaned the carpet at the door, fearing that a trace of dust would get on it and offend the city lord.

At the beginning of each month, it is the day when the finance and tax officer reports the tax situation of the previous month to the city lord and the chief priest.

The officiant of Beiji City is vacant all year round, and there is only one city lord. He sits on a high-backed chair in the conference hall, flipping through the presented documents over and over again, the wrinkles on his face are crowded together, and his complexion is so gloomy that he seems to be able to wring out water.

The finance and tax officer tremblingly stood aside with his head bowed, not daring to make a sound.

"What's going on? This month's tax revenue is actually reduced by half compared to last month!" Beiji City Master slammed the table, almost breaking a corner of the mahogany table.

The attendants were startled and retreated one after another.

"Speak, are you dumb?"

The city lord glared at the finance and tax officer, who had a bitter face and sighed: "My lord, since the beast tide has passed, the tax revenue in the city is not as good as every month, and the farmers in the villages outside the city have fled one after another, and more than half of the cottages have been abandoned. Sharply reduced."

"Where are those big farms?" Just as he asked, the city lord suddenly realized that the big farms are all under the names of nobles. Which nobleman would obediently pay taxes these days?

His own family even occupies dozens of hectares of fertile land. Has he ever paid a dime in tax?

The city lord frowned and exhaled, and skipped the topic without interest: "What about the business tax? Why are there so few business taxes?"

The finance and tax officer secretly rolled his eyes, and said respectfully on his face: "Many merchants' shops in the city are suffering from poor business and cannot pay taxes. Some merchants have moved their families to other places. ..."

Before he could finish his words, the city lord could already hear the meaning behind his words, and he was both annoyed and hated: "This group of moths! Idiots without vision! They have fallen into the trap of money! They don't even think about it. If the city lord's mansion collapses, what do they rely on to be powerful? Good luck!"

"What about exorbitant taxes? What about poll taxes?"

The tax official complained bitterly: "My lord, the population of urban residents is losing every day, and there is only so much tax that can be collected."

After venting, the city lord had nothing to do about it, he could only lean on the back of the chair exhaustedly and gasp for breath.

He himself is the biggest nobleman in the city. If he offends other nobles severely, it is not certain who the guards on the city wall will obey.

The City Lord of Beiji waved his hand to signal the finance and tax officer to go down, but at this moment, a man with the appearance of a military officer hurried in from the door of the conference hall, his footsteps were hurried and heavy, and he stepped on the freshly cleaned carpet with muddy footprints on the floor.

The city lord glanced at him displeasedly: "Why are you in a hurry?"

The officer didn't even have time to salute, and looked at him hastily: "My lord, it's bad! The soldiers are complaining about wages!"

"What?" Beiji City Master's face changed drastically, Huo Di got up from the high-back chair, leaned against the edge of the table, and leaned forward involuntarily, "Isn't the military salary paid?"

The finance and tax officer lamented in his heart, covered his mouth and coughed, and signaled the other party to continue flipping through the financial report.

The city owner turned to the last few pages and saw the huge deficit in the last line of expenditure and income. He rolled his eyes angrily and almost fainted.

In order to resist the possible retaliation from Yuanliu City, the main combat faction headed by the city lord has been recruiting troops recently to enrich the city's defenses, but the fragile finances simply cannot afford such consumption.

Once the payment issue is not handled properly and there is a mutiny, not to mention the position of the city lord, even the family's wealth and life will be at stake!

It's not that they haven't considered the Lord He's cowardly proposal to cede the land for compensation, but Yuanliu City doesn't pay attention to it at all, and secondly, it will make the already bad finances even worse.

The indemnity can't be paid by taxes alone. Is it possible to cut the flesh from the noble's thigh?It's better than killing them!

On the contrary, it is obviously a more economical idea to flick a group of refugees and slaves who are about to starve to death to fill up the guards, and buy a group of cannon fodder with meager military pay.

The most wonderful thing is that the money is naturally paid by the city lord's mansion, and the nobles do not need to spend a penny for private property.

Their private property is noble and inviolable!

Seeing that the city lord's face was blue and white, as if he was going to have a cerebral hemorrhage in the next second, the finance and tax officer quickly helped him, and whispered in the ear of the other party:

"My lord, the matter has come to an end, and my subordinates have a plan, which can not only relieve the urgent need, but also make a lot of money."

The city lord stared at him sharply, clasping his wrist tightly with both hands: "What can I do? Say it!"

The finance and tax officer smiled strangely: "Think about it, my lord. Yuanliu City recently opened two banks, allowing the residents of the city to exchange gold and silver for a few thin pieces of paper. If you don't exchange them, you won't be able to buy food."

"Also let them deposit their money in the bank and give a small amount of interest every month."

"Then the bank will use the money to lend money to merchants and charge a little more interest. The price difference is a free profit. Well!"

"Those stupid people actually did it obediently, and exchanged all their hard-earned gold and silver coins for worthless paper!"

"My lord, since Abyss City can do this, so can we. Isn't it just printing some paper? We can ask someone to secretly order engravings from the printing factory in Abyss City, and print money ourselves!"

"We also open a bank, and we can print as much as we want. If the soldiers are complaining about their wages, we will give them banknotes. Isn't this problem solved?"

The City Lord of Beiji suddenly realized what he had said, that's right, the right to print money belongs to him, so it doesn't matter how much he wants!

As for whether it will be used by anyone, as long as you learn from Yuanliu City and you have to use banknotes to buy food, everything will be fine.

"Okay, let's do it!"

The finance and tax officer whose suggestion was adopted was relieved, and after being encouraged by the city lord Haosheng, he Shi Shiran left the meeting hall.

The carriage carrying him stopped in a remote alley in a twist and turn.

In the shadow, stood a shadow wrapped in a cloak, and the finance and tax official smiled and greeted him: "It's all done."

The cloak moved slightly, revealing Uncle Lu's face.

He motioned to the attendant beside him to hand over a thick stack of cloth bags wrapped in yuanliu coins, and smiled warmly:

"Although our Lu family has left Beiji City, we can't bear to see our old friends from the past worrying about a little money."

The finance and tax officer rubbed his hands: "Mr. Lu is too far-fetched, this is obviously a matter of mutual benefit, and I would like to thank you for your suggestion on behalf of the city lord."

Uncle Lu nodded slightly: "It should, you're welcome."

He stood on the spot, quietly watching the other party's carriage go away, his smile faded, it was obviously summer, and the hot sun was shining in the sky, but he felt a chill running up his spine for no reason.

※※※

The order of the city lord to open a bank and issue banknotes in Beiji City spread throughout the streets and alleys overnight.

The vast majority of commoners and nobles know nothing about economics. They only see Yuanliu City's banknotes as valuable and convenient, and have never considered the risks behind them.

Only a small number of shrewd businessmen, relying on years of business experience, vaguely understand some of the rules and pitfalls.

Especially the rice and grain merchants sneered and said nothing about the fact that paper money must be used to buy grain mentioned in the city lord's order.

The rice and grain merchants in Beiji City are not the public rice merchants in Yuanliu City. Behind these rice and grain merchants are all famous aristocrats, whose families run large tax-free farms and have a large number of serf tenants.

The price of food in the city has always been controlled by them. When food is cheap, they buy in large quantities, and when food is scarce, they hoard it. They are good at speculation.

Beiji City City Lord's Mansion printing banknotes and building a new bank are in full swing, but the people below don't buy it at all.

In order to cope with the military pay, the City Lord's Mansion issued banknotes indiscriminately. In addition, the anti-counterfeiting has no technical content at all. Counterfeit workshops are everywhere, and counterfeit coins are flying everywhere. The banknotes in Beiji City have been devalued less than a month after they were issued.

A strange scene happened. The soldiers who received the banknotes in the morning went to the grain store to buy grain in the afternoon, but the grain given by the store was only half of the denomination of the banknotes.

What?If you don't like it, don't buy it!

Are you going to sue the city lord's mansion?Ha ha!My family's backer is a big shot in the city lord's mansion, be careful to sue you for framing, you can't afford it!

The powerless soldiers had no other choice but to swallow their anger and buy half of the grain and go home.

Such a situation happened to every low-level commoner, and life became more and more tight. It didn't take long before the day of tax collection came again.

When the civilians handed over a large stack of banknotes to the tax collector, the other party turned his nostrils to the sky and said confidently, "The city lord said that banknotes cannot be used for taxes, and coins must be paid. We will not accept these!"

This sentence is like a bolt from the blue to the poor civilians!

Paper money is not used to pay taxes, and the store deducts the amount when shopping. This paper money is not much better than waste paper!

The City Lord's Mansion is clearly cheating money!

After recognizing the sinister intentions of the upper-class nobles, the anger accumulated by the people over the years was finally completely ignited and exploded!

All the workshops went on strike, and even the patrolling guards stood by them. Angry people took to the streets spontaneously, flocking to the City Lord's Mansion from all directions, blocking the streets tightly.

They protested loudly and threw stones at the City Lord's Mansion to vent their dissatisfaction!

Third Uncle Lu, who was watching all this from a distance, slowly put down the binoculars in his hand.

Obviously the same policy was implemented in Yuanliu City and Beiji City, but it produced completely different results.

Third Uncle Lu couldn't help but think of Shen Qingze's expression that seemed to be a smile but not a smile at that time, he didn't understand it at that time, but now he vaguely understands it, when he thinks about it carefully, it makes people shudder.

Could it be that the officiant had already expected all of this today?

※※※

Yuanliu City City Lord's Mansion, Council Hall.

The entire conference hall was silent, except for the voice of Luo Xin reporting the financial crisis in Beiji City, which rolled over the hearts of every official present like a rolling stone.

No one thought that there is actually a way to drive the enemy into desperation without relying on a single soldier in the world.

On the two main seats, Yan Zui and Shen Qingze, one on the left and one on the right, quietly listened to Luo Xin's report.

From time to time, some officials secretly glanced at Shen Qingze's expression. The other person leaned forward slightly, crossed his hands, and had peaceful eyes, as if he was listening extremely attentively.

In the end, Shen Qingze nodded slightly, signaling Luo Xin to sit down.

Everyone looked up at him, most with blank eyes.

They don't understand how Beiji City stepped into the current miserable situation step by step. The only thing they understand is that Beiji City has been manipulated by the chief priest from the beginning to the end.

This kind of cognition made everyone worship and fear. Everyone held their breath and waited for the knife hanging above the head of Beiji City to fall.

Yan Zui also stared sideways at him, compared to what happened to Bei Jicheng, he was more curious that Shen Qingze did all of this.

Yan Zui couldn't help feeling a little proud of everyone's admiring eyes, she was even happier than being looked at like this.

Shen Qingze had turned to the last page of the plan for Beiji City in front of him, he sighed lightly, and there was some kind of cold pity in his eyes: "It's time to close the net."