The Original Vampire

  Faced with Colin’s sharp questions, Bachelor Sonny immediately calmed down from his frenzy.

  He has realized that, although the Guardian of the North in front of him is young, he is not that easy to fool.

  So, he slowly sat across from the dining table, nodded solemnly, and said:

  ”Yes, this new farming and animal husbandry system that I have high hopes for does have several fatal flaws.”

  Vera was startled and immediately put her mind to rest. He took off the knife and fork in his hand, wiped his mouth with a napkin, and prepared to listen carefully.

  Bachelor Sonny seemed worried that the two important figures in front of him would lose confidence in his agricultural reform plan, so he quickly comforted him:

  ”But please don’t worry; I have been thinking about these shortcomings for so long, and I have some solutions.”

  Colin was noncommittal. He nodded and said, “You’d better talk about the flaws first.”

  ”Okay.” Bachelor Sonny cleared his throat and said frankly, “First of all, it’s sweet potatoes. In fact, it has one of the most fatal flaws, which is that it is difficult to store for a long time.

  Barley , wheat, and rice can be stored for three to five years, as long as the methods are correct. But sweet potatoes, even if they are dried, can only be stored for half a year at most.”

  Vera tilted her head and said doubtfully, “This is not a big problem. After eating the sweet potatoes, we can eat bread again; it’s not like we don’t plant wheat anymore.”

  Bachelor Sunny shook his head and said, “Your Majesty, the problem is not here, but about taxes!”

  “Taxes?” Vera didn’t understand…

  Colin’s eyes narrowed, and he immediately realized what problems this would cause.

  The taxation methods in this world are very backward, and taxation in kind is generally used.

  For example, if the lord of Winterspring Town implements a “tithe tax” in the territory, that is to say, one-tenth of all the output of the people here must be given to the lord.

  Those who grow wheat should pay one-tenth of the barley, and those who raise cattle and sheep should pay one-tenth of the cattle and sheep, or cowhide, wool, and other recognized equivalents. Therefore, if Bachelor Sonny’s new agricultural and animal husbandry system is promoted, farmers in this system will turn over one-tenth of the sweet potatoes and pork.

  But this involves a serious problem: sweet potatoes are difficult to preserve for a long time.

  The lord collects these taxes, of course, not for his own consumption. No matter how many members of his family there are, they cannot eat so much.

  These taxes are either used as strategic reserves, used as military rations, or put on the market to exchange for the goods they want… In short, this requires that the collected taxes be preserved for a long time.

  Sweet potatoes, however, have a very fatal flaw in this regard.

  It’s no wonder that Bachelor Sonny’s seemingly wonderful agricultural reform plan has met with such serious resistance in Yulong City. The nobles don’t want all the sweet potatoes they harvest to spoil in a short time.

  After some explanations from Bachelor Sunny, Vera also understood, but then she asked again: “Then can the citizens exchange the sweet potatoes into copper coins and then use the copper coins to pay taxes?” “I’m afraid not.” Bachelor Sonny shook his head in denial.

  ”Why?”

  ”Because, there are not enough copper coins.”

  ”Not enough copper coins?” Vera became even more confused and had to look at Colin for help.

  Colin also nodded solemnly and said: “Indeed, it would seem more convenient for the Lord if the people were required to use copper coins to pay taxes, but in fact, this would greatly reduce the number of copper coins circulating in the market.

  On the other hand, those farmers who adopt the new agricultural and animal husbandry systems will inevitably sell some of their uneaten sweet potatoes because they cannot store them for a long time and then buy wheat that is easier to store. In this way, the demand for copper coins on the market will increase. On the contrary, it has increased.

  The demand for money is increasing, but the supply is decreasing. The more successful this new agricultural and animal husbandry system is, the greater the impact on the existing monetary system will be, and it may even cause deflation.”

  Colin is almost certain that deflation is inevitable. will happen.

  Because this world was originally dominated by a natural economy, farmers hardly used copper coins on a daily basis, because they farmed their own land and ate the income they harvested, excluding paying taxes, and there were not many transactions.

  But the new agricultural and animal husbandry systems are different. Farmers must trade; otherwise, the sweet potatoes will not be eaten enough and spoil. This will greatly stimulate market activity. If the money supply does not keep up, the consequences will be extremely bad.

  But Vera didn’t understand these things at all and blinked her cute big eyes, becoming even more confused.

  Bachelor Sonny was also curious about the new term that Colin came up with: “Deflation? Lord Viscount, what does this mean?”

  Colin coughed a few times and said calmly, “It means that there is not enough currency in circulation, and copper coins have become rare. The value of rare items has skyrocketed, prices have fallen, and people who hold copper coins are unwilling to exchange them, which ultimately makes the entire trade market unable to operate normally.”

  Bachelor Sonny looked at Colin in surprise, as if he did not expect this. The young Viscount actually studied the economic operation so deeply.

  ”Then can’t we mint more copper coins?” Vera asked again.

  Bachelor Sonny nodded and said, “Yes, this is indeed a way. However, the right to mint coins in the Glorious Empire is in the hands of the royal family. You must first obtain the consent of the royal family.

  Moreover, I must remind you that casting copper coins is actually a thankless job. Because the cost of casting copper coins is higher than their value.”

  People in this world may not understand economic operations as well as Colin, who is just a half-timer, but they also understand the importance of the right to mint coins.

  Therefore, it is not a simple matter to obtain the right to mint coins from the royal family.

  When Bachelor Sonny’s new farming and animal husbandry system was rejected, it showed that the royal family did not want to change the current monetary system.

  In fact, even if he obtained the power to mint copper coins, Colin did not want to do it because, as Bachelor Sonny said, minting copper coins is a thankless task and will only increase the burden on the St. Hilde family.

  However, Colin has other ways to solve the currency shortage problem.

  This is also thanks to the fact that in his previous life, he was used to the various shady operations of businessmen in a developed market economy.

  So, he smiled and said, “We don’t have to mint copper coins.”

  Bachelor Sunny’s eyes narrowed, and he quickly asked: “Sir Viscount, do you have a better way?”

  Colin smiled and nodded. “Yes, we can borrow money from businessmen!”

  ”Loan?” Bachelor Sonny suddenly looked confused. He didn’t understand what lending had to do with increasing the money supply.

  Colin smiled confidently and explained leisurely: “We can use the name of the Saint Hilde family to borrow money from major merchants in the north, and the things we borrow are food!

  I know many merchants who took advantage of the famine in the north before. They are all secretly hoarding a large amount of food, preparing to make a fortune when food prices rise. I originally wanted to wait until I returned to the north this time to deal with these guys who are bent on making a fortune for the country.

  But now it seems that maybe I can adopt a gentler method and use loans to get a large amount of grain from these merchants.”

  Vera couldn’t help but wonder: “Colin, but does this have anything to do with what we are talking about now?” “

  Of course , please listen to me slowly.” Colin smiled and was reassured. “When these merchants lend us grain, the St. Hilde family will issue a batch of bills with the family crest; well, they are called bonds…

  Moreover, you will also declare in public as the Duke of the North that anyone who holds these bonds can come to Lion’s Roar Castle to exchange for food of equal value after the debt maturity date.”

  Vera still listened. He was confused and looked at Colin with his cute, big eyes blinking as if he didn’t know how to ask questions.

  However, Bachelor Sonny seemed to realize something, and his eyes became brighter and brighter.

  Colin smiled and continued to explain: “In this way, these bonds are equated with grain, and they are guaranteed by the credit of the St. Hilde family. They have the characteristics of general equivalents. To put it simply, they can be used as currency.

  After that, we announced that from now on, the taxes in the North must be paid in currency or equivalent bonds. Once there is a shortage of copper coins, believe me, people will definitely use this bond as a medium of exchange.

  In this way, first, although we have not minted new coins, we have actually increased the supply of money circulating in the market.”

  Bachelor Sunny stood up excitedly, his face flushed, and loudly said, “Sir Viscount, you are really a genius!”

  After saying that, he paced back and forth in the restaurant, probably thinking carefully about the feasibility of this method.

  Vera tangled the ends of her hair between her fingers and seemed to understand what Colin meant.

  But after Bachelor Sonny walked back and forth for a long time, he suddenly stopped and asked in a solemn voice: “Lord Viscount, I think there may be a problem with your method.” “

  Say.”

  ”The St. Hilde family asked the merchants The loan must be repaid, and once it is repaid, won’t these bonds be withdrawn from the market?”

  ”Who said that the loan must be repaid?” Colin said in a faint tone. “We can definitely borrow new debt. Pay off the old debt and maintain this debt forever.”

  Bachelor Sonny was stunned.

  Vera was also a little hesitant, because in this world, borrowing money is not an honorable thing, especially for nobles; it can be said to be a shame for them to owe money to those lowly businessmen.

  The current situation in the north is special, and it would make sense for the St. Hilde family to borrow some money to deal with emergencies. However, if the debt is allowed to continue, it will probably be a huge blow to the prestige of the St. Hilde family.

  Colin watched the changes in their expressions and smiled secretly in his heart.

  He knows that one of the most rogue countries on earth has also borrowed a lot of debt, but does anyone dare underestimate it because of this?

  ”Believe me, reasonable debt is not a burden but a blessing!”

  Colin said the famous saying of Hamilton, the first Secretary of the Treasury of the United States.

  In fact, Colin bypassed the royal family’s right to mint money by issuing bonds in this way, which was actually equivalent to privately issuing circulating currency.

  Of course, Colin knows how much profit and influence it will generate if the right to issue currency can be held in his hands.

  Why does the Fed like to buy U.S. bonds every time there is a financial crisis?

  Isn’t it just to inject a large amount of liquid US dollars into the market in this way, increase the money supply, thereby causing inflation, and thereby harvest the world?

  It’s also called quantitative easing.

  In fact, they are printing money like crazy.

  But there is no way; you can’t accuse the other party directly. After all, in this way, the Federal Reserve is indeed repaying debts…

  Colin’s inspiration actually came from this. He borrowed grain from businessmen, thereby issuing bonds of equal value, which were then Endorsed by the credibility of the St. Hilde family and used as tax credits. These bonds also have the function of currency.

  In this way, the St. Hilde family is diluting and harvesting the wealth of northern merchants and even the nobles of the entire empire.

  But with this world’s aristocrats’ superficial understanding of finance, they probably still don’t understand the true power of this method.

  Of course, the world is still dominated by a natural economy rather than a market economy, so the power of manipulating currency issuance rights cannot be fully exerted.

  But as long as this method can be implemented smoothly, Colin is confident that the Northern Territory can quickly recover from famine and war, and even quickly widen the gap with the other three territories.

  Vera looked at Colin, who looked confident. Although she did not fully understand the true meaning of this plan, this did not prevent her from fully supporting her husband as always.

  As for Bachelor Sonny, this guy is eager to implement his new farming and animal husbandry system in the north. Even if he still has some doubts about Colin’s solution, he will not say it at this time.

  Seeing that both of them had no objections, Colin immediately and proudly sent a formal invitation to Bachelor Sonny:

  ”Sister Sonny, I wonder if you are willing to go to the north and serve as the agricultural consultant for the St. Hilde family.”

Sonny’s face became solemn, and he finally looked at Colin with respect from the bottom of his heart, and said solemnly:

  ”I do!”