Inflation, to put it simply, is the depreciation of the currency and the comprehensive and sustained rise in the price level caused by the amount of money in circulation exceeding the actual needs of the economy under the credit money system.

Keywords, credit currency!

Yes, inflation appeared on the basis of credit money, which was naturally a completely unknown concept for the ancients, because in this era there was no credit money at all.

What is credit money? To put it simply, it is something that has no value in itself and has been given the qualification of money by the government or people. Just like the renminbi in later generations, no matter how beautifully printed it is, it is just a piece of paper, and if the government's laws are thrown away, it itself has no transaction value.

But in this era, it is different, the copper coins used by the people themselves have a very high value, because copper ore is a very valuable mineral in this era. To put it simply, an ordinary war horse sells for 20,000 yuan, and although 20,000 yuan here is the price, it can also be seen as a unit of weight.

Because the so-called 20,000 yuan is actually 20,000 five-baht coins, in this era, 24 baht is one tael, and 16 taels is one catty, which means that even if you don't use 20,000 yuan to buy, but exchange it for copper ore of the same weight, it still has the same value.

Of course, copper mines have always been controlled by the imperial court in this era, even if the imperial court has lost control now because of Dong Zhuo's reasons, copper mines are still in the hands of major local forces, and it is impossible for ordinary people to trade copper ore.

So strictly speaking, although copper coins are a kind of currency, strictly speaking, they are still considered an equivalent barter, but this thing is unified. In this case, unless a large number of copper mines are discovered one day, and the copper mines themselves depreciate wildly, there will be no inflation at all.

But the fact is, inflation is happening now, and it's likely to get worse.

According to the intelligence, the price of Sanfu has risen the most, Gu Yihu has risen from more than 200 yuan to tens of thousands of yuan, and the rest, including various food, clothing and other daily necessities, have also increased dozens of times...... As for the other prefectures and counties, I don't know for the time being because there is no survey, but the prices of Shangdang and Shang counties, as well as Ha Dong and Hanoi counties under the rule of the lord have skyrocketed. Guo Jia reported with a strange expression, obviously in his mind, he didn't understand why the price of these things had risen so dramatically, just because of the new money?

Obviously, even if he is as smart as Guo Jia, he can't figure out the cause and effect of this matter, or rather, except for a very few people who can guess it, not many people can figure it out at all. Because none of what he has learned in his life has anything to do with it.

After all, the status of businessmen in this era is very low, how can anyone specialize in the study of business? Even those big businessmen are just passing down their experience from generation to generation, and they have not unified it into a special knowledge. This situation lasted until the Ming Dynasty.

"Pass my order, immediately send fast horses to rush to various places day and night, and prohibit the use of new money! At the same time, the new money that has already appeared is forced to be recovered at the same weight price! If there is a disobedient person, the man will be a slave and the woman will be a slave! Tell them that this matter must be strict! Thorough! Resolutely carry it out! There can be no mistakes! Li Yi looked at the new coin in his hand and ordered sharply.

Now, Li Yi finally understands how the terrible inflation at the end of the Han Dynasty happened, and he originally thought that there were too many wars and natural disasters, but now he found out that it was Dong Zhuo's problem of casting new money.

However, while discovering it, Li Yi couldn't help but be a little depressed, "Grandma's, if I had known that this was the reason earlier, how much money would Lao Tzu have made from it......" Li Yi thought helplessly.

You must know that since before the outbreak of the Yellow Turban Rebellion, he has been hoarding materials for this terrible inflation, although he did make a little profit during the Yellow Turban Rebellion, but compared to the current situation, what can that money be counted?

But Li Yi can't be blamed, even if he learns to be rich and has five cars, he can't think of the reason why new money is the cause of inflation.

After all, from ancient times to the present, all those in power have made copper coins to ease their finances when they are short of money. Even Li Yi is the same, since the imperial court was controlled by Dong Zhuo, the copper mines in Bingzhou have become Li Yi's private property, and new copper coins are constantly being made. Although it is not as good as the five-baht coin made by the imperial court before, under Li Yi's request, there is not much difference in at least fineness and weight.

Hearing Li Yi's words, Guo Jia was stunned for a moment, obviously still not understanding why Li Yi had such a big reaction. However, Li Yi has no intention of explaining this, after all, his own finance is also very scummy, although he understands this truth, but it is also very difficult to say it in a simple way.

"In short, the order is carried out immediately! If anyone dares not to carry it out, or deceive the superiors and subordinates! No matter who it is, they will all be punished for the crime of defecting to the enemy! Li Yi said in a deep voice, his tone full of irresistible majesty.

"No!" Seeing this, Guo Jia didn't say much, after all, Li Yidu said so, what else could he say? Although to this day, he still doesn't think this matter is so serious.

"By the way, all the new money recovered will be used to trade with that Zhang Yan. If the other party raises an objection, give him a little advantage, but not too obviously, so as not to be discovered by the other party. In short, spend all the new money as soon as possible! Li Yi looked at Guo Jia and said in a deep voice.

Although Li Yi knew the dangers of new money, he obviously didn't plan to tell others, after all...... Dead friends don't die poor, not to mention that those people will be Li Yi's enemies in the future. As for the innocent people who will harm the local people, Li Yi can't care so much, "If you are smart, you can escape into my territory as soon as possible......

Li Yi's order soon spread to all the territories under his rule, and obviously, including Lu Bu and others, they could not understand Li Yi's order. After all, although the color and weight of the new money are not as good as the five-baht coin, and some denominations are very different from the weight, but that is not the same as money?

However, after hearing Li Yi's punishment for disobeying the people and those who did not execute, they all trembled, you must know that even a person like Lu Bu, who grew up with Li Yi since childhood, has never seen Li Yi give such a harsh order. This made them immediately put aside the suspicions in their minds and devote themselves to carrying out the order.