Lu Hong, a member of the Industrial and Mining Energy, said: "So how is the exchange rate between silver coins and silver calculated? Is 1 yuan equal to 1 tael of silver?"

Jia Zhen shook his head and said, "It's not calculated like this, but based on the specific gravity, the silver dollar of 1 yuan is the standard, and the weight is equivalent to 7 cents of silver, that is, 0.72 taels of silver, and the exchange rate with foreign currencies is also calculated like this. The current exchange rate between silver and pound is 6.1:1, which is converted into silver dollars and pounds, which is 8.5:1."

This result has caused a lot of discussion, because in many people, they have equalized 1 yuan silver coin and 1 tael of silver, but they did not expect that it would be calculated by weight.

Commercial Commissioner Ye Yanfu immediately said: "Why set such an exchange rate? Isn't it too troublesome? And the value is determined completely by weight. So why do we have to issue new currencies? Why do we need to continue to use silver, which can save a coin fee. Therefore, I think it is better to set the exchange rate between silver dollars and silver at 1:1. This is not only convenient to use, but also simple and clear, but also increases the actual value of silver dollars."

This suggestion represents the opinions of many people, so several people also expressed their agreement.

Jia Zhen said: "I can understand everyone's ideas. From my heart, I also want to set the higher the exchange rate between silver dollars and silver, the better. It is best to set it as 1 yuan silver dollars equal to 10 taels of silver. Is it possible to set such an exchange rate in reality? China set silver as the main circulating currency in the middle of the Ming Dynasty, and it uses weight as the currency value. No matter whether this currency system is reasonable or not, it has been popular in China for 500 years and has long been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. It is not easy for anyone to change this system. To put it bluntly, it is a question of currency credit. It will not make the people believe in the value of the new currency just because we are time travelers."

Seeing that everyone was bowing their heads and silent by their words, Jia Zhenzhao said again: "In fact, before Yuan Datou, China had issued silver coins. In 1889 and 1894, Zhang Zhidong issued silver coins with the "Guangxu Yuanbao" in Guangdong and Hubei respectively. Beiyang also issued silver coins in 1896. In the old time and space, the Qing court began to issue silver coins officially, but these silver coins were not successful without exception. The reason was not only the small issuance volume, but the quality of these silver coins was not even good or bad. Some silver coins contained silver, but they were equal to the price of 1 tael of silver.

Value, do you think the people will trust such a currency? When minting the 'Yuan Datou', the weight and quality, was clearly defined. Moreover, the 'Yuan Datou' with a face value of 1 yuan is only equivalent to the price of half a tael of silver. It is precisely because of these guarantees that the 'Yuan Datou' was quickly recognized by the people after it was issued, and until the founding of New China, it was always the main circulating currency in China. Even though warlords from all over the country later cast the 'Yuan Datou' and the quality was declining, it did not shake the confidence of the 'Yuan Datou' in the hearts of the people, which also shows how important it is to establish monetary credit."

"Although we have suffered a little loss in the value of the currency, it is absolutely worth paying these prices to establish our currency credit. Moreover, as long as the currency credit is established, the benefits to us are absolutely huge. At least the amount of currency we are currently is only temporary and is definitely not enough in the long run. But in the future, we can guarantee the total amount of our currency by increasing the issuance of large-degree silver coins or even large-degree paper money, so that there will be no more losses."

After listening to Jia Zhenzhao's words, Xia Bohai said: "Okay, the currency exchange rate issue will be discussed here for the time being. So, do you have any considerations in the issuance of currency?"

Jia Zhenzhao nodded and said, "The issuance of currency is closely related to banks, so I would like to talk about the bank's development plan first. According to our plan, the bank is initially scheduled to open in June this year. If there is insufficient preparation in other aspects, such as the [Bank Law] has not been formulated, it can be postponed until July. The bank has initially determined to open 12 business sites first, namely Qingdao, Tianjin, Jinan, Weihai, Jiaozhou, Gaomi, and Jimo. The next step will be to select points in various places, and within one month of the bank's official listing, it will be opened in the above places one after another. The silver dollar is issued first in these areas. Then as we control the Shandong region, we will gradually advance. The first batch of bank business sites will set up special exchange counters for silver dollars, and ensure sufficient silver dollars are used for exchange. In addition, the exchange of silver dollars is based on Kuping silver. One tael is 37.301 grams, and the silver content rate is 93.5374%. Other silver must be calculated according to the color conversion. This is also a customary rule of the people. Any circulating silver has a color discount. We issue new currencies to adhere to the principles of openness, fairness and notarization. We will not take the opportunity to plunder private wealth, but we will not suffer any secret losses. We have also equipped each bank with experts in this field, and also equipped with standard weights, scales and containers. What is a small crucible for refining and refining silver on site to show fairness.”

Everyone nodded repeatedly when they heard this. It seemed that the Finance Committee had indeed spent a lot of effort on the issuance of currency. Of course, currency reform has been a major event in ancient and modern times, both in China and abroad. If you are not careful, it will cause great turmoil in the country and society. Therefore, before currency reform, you must make sufficient preparations and plans.

Jia Zhenzhao then said: "After the issuance of silver dollars, the public should also be adapted. Moreover, since we have not fully controlled the entire province of Shandong, we need to set up an expiration period, which is to use both silver dollars and silver currencies at the same time. The time is initially set for one year. During the expiration period, in any bank we open, silver dollars, including banknotes, and silver can be exchanged with each other."

This article immediately aroused many people's opinions. Wang Jun, a member of the Cultural, Education and Health, said: "Aren't we going to replace silver with silver dollars? Why are we allowed to exchange silver dollars for silver?"

Jia Zhen said: "This is ultimately a matter of currency credit. People of any era are not stupid. They will not naively believe that you can agree with its value if you issue a currency. In ancient China, paper currency was also issued. But if you link paper currency to metal currency in everything, you can succeed. For example, the Song Dynasty and the Yuan Dynasty, those who decouple paper from metal currency are basically failures. For example, the paper currency in the Ming Dynasty was no different from the paper paper. Therefore, we allow silver dollars and silver to be exchanged. In fact, in the early stage of issuing silver dollars, people can use silver coins or paper currency to exchange silver at any time, which can enhance the trust of the people in silver dollars. When the people are accustomed to using silver dollars, they will naturally not convert silver dollars into silver. And when necessary, we can order and prohibit the use of silver."

Wang Jun, a member of the Cultural, Education and Health, asked again: "When it comes to the exchange, I remember other things. After all, we only control the entire province of Shandong. With a part of Tianjin, even if silver dollars can be circulated, they are still circulated within our ruling area, which will affect the surrounding areas at most. However, when we trade with other regions, such as buying iron at the Hanyang Iron Factory, and merchants in our ruling area go elsewhere to do business. Why is the people in the ruling area going out to the province and still have to use silver? I wonder if the Finance Committee has considered this?"

Jia Zhenzhao laughed and said, "Of course we have considered this. First of all, the 1 yuan silver coins we minted are basically equivalent to silver. This is another important reason why we determine the exchange ratio between silver coins and silver. No matter where we go, 1 yuan silver coins can be used as 7 coins and 2 cents silver. Secondly, the small amount of silver exchange can be handled directly in the bank. This is mainly to facilitate private out-of-province activities. After all, after we cancel silver, it is useless to exchange too much silver among the people. There are two situations to exchange bulk silver. One is to open an account or deposit in our bank, and the silver dollars on the account can be directly converted into silver for withdrawal; the other is that there is no deposit, so you need to apply in advance and fill in the form statement, which will help us control the flow of silver to prevent someone from copying it as currency and causing our silver loss."

Jia Zhenzhao said again: "Of course, these guarantees are only to solve the issue of currency issuance from the perspective of banks. To make the silver dollar truly accepted by the public and circulated in our ruling area, other guarantee measures and the full support of the government are needed. It is not enough to rely solely on banks."

Xia Bohai said: "What support do you need can be raised even if you raise it. Of course, such a major matter cannot be done by the bank or the finance committee alone. Therefore, as long as it is a reasonable request, the government will do its best to support it."

Jia Zhen said: "It is not difficult to restructure the currency. Simply put, as long as new currencies can buy goods of equal value, it is enough. If this cannot be done, all other measures will be cloudy. To achieve this, two conditions must be met. First, we must provide enough goods. Our government has done a good job in this regard. Although it cannot be compared with before we traveled through time, in this era, the goods our dominant power can provide are still abundant; secondly, merchants must collect new currencies, which is a bit difficult. After all, we cannot force every merchant to collect new currencies."

Agricultural Commissioner Gao Shize said: "This is easy to deal with? If they don't accept us, our government has opened many shops and restaurants, especially those of rice, salt and cloth. Their essential products are monopolized and sold by our government. Therefore, as long as we collect new currency, it will be the greatest guarantee for the new currency?"

Jia Zhenzhao nodded and said, "It is this idea. First of all, the government takes the lead. Not only is our government's sales department collecting new currency, but even taxes can also collect new currency. This will force other merchants to use new currency. In addition, all the travelers, as well as the government's factories, enterprises, commerce and other industries, pay new currency, so that the new currency can be circulated quickly."
Chapter completed!