"Jotunheim's profit prospects are indeed good, but unfortunately we currently need to raise at least 200 million gold dugah to fill the financial hole, and Jotunheim's annual profit of 25 million is just a drop in the bucket and can't solve any problems." Frank said listlessly.

"Your Highness, if you think about it carefully, we are talking about cash flow here, not stock!" John Lauer smiled and reminded the crown prince, "Jotunheim brings in a steady cash flow every year, which is a resource worth putting to good use." ”

"Cash flow ......" After all, Frank is a top student at the School of Political Science and Economics of the Imperial Central University, and a disciple of Alberton Weinstein Sr. ”

"Your Highness only guessed half right." John Raul smiled mysteriously, "My idea is to issue banknotes with the expected profits of the Jotunheim Company as collateral!" ”

"Issue banknotes......" Frank repeated his words, his brow furrowed, as if hesitating.

"Sure enough, it's this trick." Roland laughed in his heart, finally understanding why Frank had pulled him over to participate in the secret conversation. Let's not rush to take a stand, and let's see how John Raul sells his banknote issuance plan to Frank.

John Lauer smiled when he saw Frank's hesitation, emphasizing that the issuance of banknotes was urgent.

"Your Highness, in order to help the domestic economy get rid of the depression caused by the long-term deflation, it is necessary to increase the amount of money invested and reduce the cost of borrowing in order to help the domestic economy get out of the depression caused by long-term deflation."

"The reason is simple, but it is difficult to implement, most of the gold and silver assets in the country are in the hands of merchants, most of whom are 'moneylenders' and 'rentiers' represented by the Fogel family, who prefer to keep the economy in a state of deflation for their own sake, so that their gold and silver holdings will become more and more valuable over time, and at the same time, because of the shortage of gold and silver circulating in the market, the lenders can force the borrowers to accept higher interest rates."

The Imperial Finance Capital, represented by the Fogel family, was a supporter of the "reformers", and John Lauer had to maintain factional unity in public, but in private he criticized these financiers even more harshly than the conservatives.

"Your Highness Frank, it is no exaggeration to say that those wealthy merchants who hold the golden power are the cancer of our country, but you have to ask them now, and you can't turn against this group of wealthy vampires, so you can only adopt a roundabout strategy to weaken the golden power in their hands."

"Can the issuance of paper money really weaken the influence of wealthy merchants?" Frank was skeptical.

"Of course!" John Lauer nodded confidently, "The reason why the wealthy business group can influence the government is that it has a large amount of real money in its hands, and the government borrows money from them, so as a debtor, we have to be at the mercy of creditors, but why do we have to use gold and silver coinage?" If the government takes the lead in issuing paper money, and gives paper money the same credit as gold and silver, it can get rid of the control of wealthy merchants and create a scarce currency out of thin air! ”

"Since the imperial economy has been in a state of deflation for a long time, and the amount of money in the market is insufficient, we will appropriately increase the amount of paper money according to economic needs, and the more money in circulation, the interest rate will naturally decrease, and the low interest rate will help stimulate people's consumption and borrowing, promote both supply and demand, and inject vitality into the national economy, and the active economy will promote the rapid growth of national wealth, increase the income of all walks of life, and then bring more taxes to the government, so that the financial situation will improve, and enter a virtuous circle."

John Lauer describes to Frank the bright future of the banknote, and finally summarizes his ideas in an accentuated tone.

"Your Highness, paper money can be a powerful weapon in the hands of the government, and by holding this weapon firmly, you will be able to free yourself from the control of the wealthy merchant class, and in turn control them to serve your reforming cause!"

Frank was obviously moved by what he said, but he didn't give an immediate reply, and turned to look at Roland.

"Roland, you have successfully issued silver banknotes to replace silver coins in the Far East, and you have a lot of experience in the field of issuing paper money, I would like to hear your opinion."

Since His Royal Highness the Crown Prince asked, Roland couldn't stand by coldly. After a little thought, I carefully expressed my opinion.

"Your Royal Highness Frank, Mr. Raul's 'monetary quantity theory' is very insightful, and I also agree that the issuance of paper money is conducive to reducing borrowing costs and may help the imperial economy get out of a long depression, but I still need to have a more in-depth exchange with Mr. Raul on the specific details of the issuance of paper money."

"In-depth communication, that's exactly what I want!" John Raul spread his hands and smiled, "Your Highness Roland, now please make a move." ”

"Mr. Raul, it's strange that you're proposing to use the assets of a state-owned Magic Crystal Mining Company as collateral for the government's issuance of banknotes, because we generally issue bonds, so what's the difference between banknotes and bonds? If I hold a bond from Magic Crystal, I can enjoy the interest income, but the banknotes have no interest, what are the benefits of holding the banknotes? If there are no benefits, or the expected returns are not as good as bonds, then why not just buy bonds. ”

"Your thinking is too old-fashioned, Your Highness Roland, paper money is actually a kind of bond, you must know this, although paper money will not earn interest, but when we issue paper money in the primary market, we can give different degrees of discounts according to the wholesale volume of the underwriting agency, isn't this the same thing as selling bonds?" John Raul replied arrogantly.

"With all due respect, the Imperial Government is now unable to sell even the national debt, and expects others to accept paper money that has no advantage over the national debt? You're overly optimistic. Roland smiled and sneered.

John Lauer's face twitched slightly, and after a short period of embarrassment, he immediately counterattacked: "In order to encourage people to accept such a novelty as paper money, we really need to inject more reliable credit into paper money, such as promising that people can exchange paper money for magic crystals equal to the face value, to put it bluntly, that is, to convert the 'gold and silver standard' to the 'magic crystal standard'." ”

"The empire is rich in magic crystals but short of gold and silver, this kind of conversion is a good idea." Frank nodded in approval.

"Magic Crystal Standard?" Roland finally resisted the urge to burst into laughter, "Mr. Raul, are you not joking?" If I have banknotes issued by the Imperial Government in my hand, can I really take the banknotes to the Imperial Central Bank to exchange them for magic crystals? ”