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

Jia Zhenzhao shook his head and said: "It's not calculated like this, but calculated according to the proportion, with 1 yuan of silver dollar as the standard, according to the weight equivalent to 7 money and 2 cents of silver, that is, 0.72 taels of silver, and the exchange rate of foreign currencies is also calculated in this way, the current exchange rate between silver and pound sterling is 6.1:1, converted into silver dollars and pounds, it is 8.5:1." ”

This result has aroused a lot of discussions, because in the hearts of many people, 1 yuan of silver and 1 tael of silver are equated, but they did not expect that it would be calculated by weight.

Ye Yanfu, a member of the Commercial Committee, immediately said: "Why is such an exchange rate set? Isn't it too troublesome? Moreover, the value is completely determined by weight, so why should we issue a new currency? It is better to continue to use silver, and it can also save a seigniorage, so I think it is best to set the exchange rate between silver dollars and silver at 1:1, which is not only convenient to use, simple and clear, but also allows the actual value of silver dollars to increase." ”

This suggestion represents the opinion of a number of people, so several people have expressed their agreement.

Jia Zhenzhao said: "I can understand everyone's thoughts, from my heart, I also want to set the exchange rate of silver dollars and silver as high as possible, it is best to set 1 yuan of silver dollars equal to 10 taels of silver." Is it feasible to just set such an exchange rate in reality? China set silver as the main currency in circulation in the middle of the Ming Dynasty, and it used weight as the monetary value, and whether this monetary system is legal or not, but it has been popular in China for 500 years, and it has long been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and it is not easy for anyone to change this system, and this is a matter of currency and credit, and it will not be because we are traversers, and the next administrative order will convince the people of the value of the new currency. ”

Seeing that everyone was bowed and silent by his words, Jia Zhenzhao said: "In fact, before Yuan Datou, China had already issued silver coins, in 1889 and 1894, Zhang Zhidong issued 'Guangxu ingots' in Guangdong and Hubei respectively In 1903, the Qing court began to officially issue silver coins, but these silver coins were unsuccessful without exception, the reason is that in addition to the small circulation, mainly because the quality of these silver coins is uneven, some silver coins do not even contain 5 coins, but they are equal to the value of 1 tael of silver, do you think the people will trust such a currency? Yuan Datou' is only equivalent to the price of half a tael of silver, it is precisely because of these guarantees, so 'Yuan Datou' was quickly recognized by the people after its issuance, and until the founding of New China, it has been the main currency in China, even if later warlords around the country have minted 'Yuan Datou', the quality is declining, but it has not shaken the confidence of '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 at present, but in order to establish our monetary credit, it is absolutely worth paying these costs, and as long as the monetary credit is established, the benefits to us are absolutely huge, at least the amount of money we issue at present is only temporary, and it is certainly not enough in the long run, but in the future we can increase the issuance of large-denomination silver coins, and even the issuance of large-denomination banknotes, to protect our total currency, so that there will be no more losses. ”

After listening to Jia Zhenzhao's speech, Xia Bohai said: "Okay, the exchange rate of the currency is discussed here for the time being, so do you have any considerations in terms of currency issuance?"

Jia Zhenzhao nodded and said: "The issuance of currency is closely related to the bank, so I would like to talk about the development plan of the bank first, according to our plan, the bank is tentatively scheduled to open in June this year, if due to insufficient preparation in other aspects, such as the [Banking Law] has not yet been formulated, it can be postponed to July." The bank preliminarily decided to open 12 business outlets, namely Qingdao 2, Tianjin 3, Jinan 3, Weihai, Jiaozhou, Gaomi, Jimo 1 each, the next step will be in various places to start the selection of points, in the bank officially established within 1 month, in the above places have been opened. It was in these regions that silver dollars were first issued. Then, with our control of the Shandong region, we will gradually advance, and these first batch of bank business points will set up silver dollar exchange counters, and ensure that there are enough silver dollars for exchange. In addition, the exchange of silver dollars is based on Kuping silver as the standard, one tael is 37.301 grams, the silver content rate is 93.5374%, and other silver must be calculated according to the fineness of the calculation, which is also the customary rule of the people, any circulation of silver has a fold, we issue new currency, is to uphold the principle of openness, fairness, and notarization, neither will take the opportunity to loot the wealth of the people, but will not suffer a dark loss. We also have experts in this area for our banks, as well as standard weights, scales and containers, even small crucibles, for on-site refining of silver as a sign of fairness. ”

Of course, currency reform is a major event in ancient and modern China and abroad, and a slight carelessness will cause great turmoil in the country and society, so before the currency reform, we must make full preparations and plans.

Jia Zhenzhao then said: "After the issuance of the silver dollar, we should also give the people a process of adaptation, and since we have not yet fully controlled the whole province of Shandong, we must set up a transition period, that is, to use the two currencies of silver dollar and silver at the same time, and the time is initially set at one year, during the transition period, in any bank we open, the silver dollar, including paper money, and silver can be exchanged with each other." ”

Wang Jun, member of the Culture, Education, and Health Committee, said: "Aren't we going to replace silver with silver dollars? Why are we still allowing silver dollars to be exchanged for silver?"

Jia Zhen beckoned: " In the final analysis, this is still a matter of monetary credit, the people of any era are not stupid, will not be naïve to believe that you will issue a currency to recognize its value, in ancient China also issued paper currency, but everything will be paper currency and metal currency linked, you can succeed, such as the Song Dynasty and the Yuan Dynasty, and the paper currency and metal currency decoupled, basically is a failure, such as the Ming Dynasty banknotes, to later and hand paper is no different, so we allow silver dollars and silver to exchange each other, in fact, in the early days of the issuance of silver dollars, the silver dollar and silver are linked, and the people can use silver coins or paper money to exchange for silver at any time, it can enhance the trust of the people in the silver dollar, and when the common people are accustomed to using the silver dollar, it is natural that the silver dollar will not be exchanged for silver, and when necessary, we can even order a ban on the use of silver. ”

Wang Jun, member of the Culture, Education and Health Commission, asked again: " Speaking of the issue of exchange, I think of something else, after all, we only control the whole province of Shandong, plus part of Tianjin, even if the silver dollar can be circulated, but it is also circulated within our ruling area, at most it will affect the surrounding areas, but our transactions with other regions, such as going to the Hanyang Iron Works to buy iron, and the merchants in our ruling area going to other places to do business, and even the people in the ruling area going out of the province, or still use silver, I don't know if the Finance Committee has considered this?"

Jia Zhenzhao smiled: " Of course, we have considered this, first of all, the 1 yuan silver coin we minted is basically equivalent to silver, which is another important reason for us to determine the exchange ratio of silver and silver, no matter where we go, 1 yuan silver coin can be used as 7 money and 2 cents of silver, followed by the small exchange of silver can be handled directly in the bank, which is mainly to facilitate the private activities out of the province, after all, after we cancel the silver, it is useless for the people to exchange too much silver; and to exchange silver in large quantities, there are two situations, one is to open an account or deposit in our bank, you can directly convert the silver dollar on the account into silver for withdrawal; the other is that there is no deposit, then we need to apply in advance and fill in the form, which is conducive to controlling the flow of silver, in case someone finishes copying the currency and causes our silver to be lost. ”

Jia Zhenzhao added: "Of course, these guarantees only solve the problem of currency issuance from the perspective of banks, and in order for the silver dollar to be truly accepted by the people and circulated in our ruling area, other safeguards and the full support of the government are needed." Banks alone are not enough. ”

Xia Bohai said: "If you need any support, you can just put it forward, of course, such a major matter cannot be completed by the bank or the Finance Commission alone, so as long as it is a reasonable request, the government will of course do its best to support it." ”

Jia Zhen beckoned: " Currency reform is not difficult, simply put, as long as the new currency can buy goods of equal value, if this can not be done, all other measures will be floating clouds, and to do this, two conditions must be met, the first is to provide enough goods, which our government has done well, although it cannot be compared with before we crossed, but in this era, our ruling area can provide goods that are quite abundant; secondly, merchants must collect new currency, which is a little difficult, after all, we cannot force every merchant to collect new currency。 ”

Gao Shize, a member of the agricultural committee, said: "This is easy to do? If they don't accept it, our government has opened a lot of shops and restaurants, especially the necessities of life such as rice, salt, and cloth, which are monopolized and sold by our government, so as long as we accept the new currency, that is the greatest guarantee for the new currency."

Jia Zhenzhao nodded and said: "That's the idea, first of all, the government takes the lead, not only our government's sales department can collect new currency, but even taxes can also collect new currency, so as to force other merchants to use the new currency, and all the traversers, as well as the government's factories, enterprises, businesses and other industries Personnel wages are also paid in the new currency, so that the new currency can be quickly circulated." ”

Xia Bohai said: "This suggestion is very good and reasonable, if we don't use the new currency issued by our government first, then who will dare to use it? ”