CHAPTER XVII. TRAVEL (2) We are relatives of the Pope

The Galleon, Zhuoguo, Jingo, and Owl gold coins are essentially made by goblins, and the wizards don't know if they differ in craftsmanship. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info only knows that goblins everywhere can imitate each other's currency, and they can't tell the real from the fake.

Therefore, a family like them that owns Gringotts will temporarily ask the elves to make a batch of coins for consumption when needed. To a certain extent, it has also caused financial chaos.

But this chaos is something that most of the top wizarding families are happy to see.

It's not that no one has discovered that Peverell and the wizarding family in the same position as them are taking advantage of this for profit. Historically, there have been people who have struggled. It's a pity that they don't learn the arts, and they spend too much time learning about the Muggle system, and they come up with a very good and perfect system, but they don't have the power to implement it.

Standing in front of the rows of crucibles, several wizards were throwing ingredients into them one by one. Rising reddish smoke obscured their faces.

The sorcerer who started toss the various metallic substances in his pocket into the pot. Obviously, this conversion process doesn't require any metal, and they throw in any metal they can find.

"What's that dark green?" asked Hermione.

"Oh, it's uranium. Birch pointed to the workbench at the rear, "where we will crack the alchemy stones, put them in the cauldron in the corresponding amount, and boil them for three hours to get the liquid gold." ”

"Just boil it straight away?" Hermione stopped looking after she saw the staff put the pale pink crumbs into the crucible.

"yes, it's easy. Billo shrugged.

"But developing alchemy is not easy. Phoenix said, "It took more than three hundred years, right?"

"Actually, if you want to talk about the idea of turning stones into gold, it's a long way ago. Billo tilted his head and thought for a moment, "I remember it was in the 3rd century, in fact, there was already a Philosopher's Stone at that time, but people didn't realize that it still had this effect. In the 5th century, an alchemist accidentally experimented and discovered that the Philosopher's Stone could convert metal into gold. ”

Then Birch took them to watch the alchemy stone refining process for a while, and they couldn't have seen it all, because the whole process took seventeen months.

The gold in the cauldron is handed over to the goblins by the wizards, who take care of the rest of the process. Under normal circumstances, Gringotts will have reserved alchemy stones, and after receiving orders, they can produce 200,000 Galleons and 2,400,000 silver siqos a day.

The production process of Yinxike has no technical content. It's basically the natural metal silver, which comes from the mines, and the eggshell of the feathered serpent.

Silver mines were mainly located in the Americas and Oceania, and according to the agreement, these mines were also required to hide from Muggles. Placing these industries outside of Europe would reduce the judicial pressure on European magical institutions.

They walked through the golden corridors, surrounded by whole pieces of natural crystals, each with a different color crystal hint at where the road leads.

"Before the invention of alchemy, we used natural gold to make gold coins. Billo continued as he led them to the vault again, "It was a terrible time. ”

"Did you get it through trade?" asked Hermione innocently.

"No, through violence. Phoenix put it bluntly, "We get gold and silver through religion and foreign wars." ”

"Religion!" Hermione was surprised.

"Otherwise, why would the Holy See launch a witch hunt. Billo smiled and said, "It's up to Phoenix to say that." ”

Phoenix scratched his forehead, he preferred that Hermione read the book herself. Both he and Barrow knew that it was a long story. However, he couldn't resist her request, so he had to open his mouth to narrate this history.

After religion became influential, shamans established deep cooperative relations with religious forces. Wizards use magic to create so-called miracles that make ignorant Muggles believe that there really are gods. Wizards are rewarded accordingly. The relationship between the two sides is very close, and it is also an important place for Peverell to house Squib members.

The two sides worked together and became increasingly close, and many of Phoenix's namesake Squib ancestors also held the position of Pope.

One of the interesting things about this is that after a member of Peverell gets a phoenix, he often names his offspring Phoenix, hoping that his children will inherit his magical talents. But they are often squibs. Because the wizards who can be recognized by the phoenix are definitely powerful people, and they themselves have a very high status within the family.

Unwilling to sweep their children out of the house, they secretly contacted the church, and many people in this situation were placed as clergy. Under Peverell's coercion and inducement, most of them became popes.

It is a kind of compensation for their parents, since they can't survive in the wizarding world, they can only enjoy wealth in the Muggle world.

This relationship began to change after Peverell monopolized Gringotts.

The main reason, of course, is the scarcity of gold and silver - in fact, there is no shortage in the first place, but after the monetization of gold and silver, the original reserves are not enough.

At that time, Peverell's first idea was to buy all the gold and silver mines of Muggles. This was opposed by the entire aristocracy, and in doing so, they would lose their most valuable treasure. Peverell was also nominally one of the nobles of the Empire at the time, and it would be unwise to openly rebel - even when the Empire was already dying.

At this time, religion coincided with the emergence of its congregation. They propose that the shaman, specifically Peverell, act as protectors and collaborators of religion. A religious tax nominally levied on the population for the salaries of the clergy and for the daily expenses of the church, as well as for almsgiving. Catholics give a tenth of their income for religious causes, regardless of whether they are high or low, even to the king.

They would exchange the proceeds for the equivalent of gold and silver to supply Peverell. Much to the Peverell's delight, they could get a lot of real money if they had nothing to do in front of the church, cast a few spells, or cast a cloud and rain spell in a drought-stricken area.

Intimate relationships began to break down in the 10th century. The wizarding community grew, trade became globalized, and more currency was needed. Wealth in Europe was shrinking, and the main trade of Muggles to wizards was crafts, which could only be obtained with copper or a small amount of silver. That is to say, real money can only go in and out, and naturally there are fewer and less.

Moreover, the Peverell family, which had experienced civil strife, urgently needed a foreign war to re-establish its prestige in Europe.

At the behest of Patriarch Augustus, the Church was forced to issue a proclamation declaring that the religion of West and North Africa was pagan, and that the Holy City of Jerusalem had been captured - in fact, Peverell himself had sold the entire city to the wizards of Western Asia. And the issuance of bonds to support the slogan of the war, for all believers to buy, especially the rich, to further squeeze the wealth of Europe.

So in 1096, the war broke out, and about 100,000 people participated, and it was annexed to Constantinople. For this battle, Peverell went all out, using the Fire Dragon and Thestrals to airlift a large number of Muggle troops - the first and only actual combat cavalry battle, which was later replaced by the Transfiguration Charm - a mixed army of wizards and Muggles parachuted into Asia Minor, conquered the city, captured Nikaia and other cities, and plundered them on a large scale. The countries of West Asia were overwhelmed by this novel method of warfare.