The Imperial Government's announcement of the abolition of the discount did not dampen the enthusiasm of the people to pursue gold money, but only added fuel to the fire, and the thirst for gold money became so strong that it almost lost its mind. At this time, most of the imperial bonds circulating in the market had been exchanged for gold banknotes, and people had no bonds in their hands, so they simply took out real money and silver, and went to the central bank at a ratio of 1:1 to exchange them for a few thin pieces of golden paper.

This visually striking scene was captured by the illustrators of the Quds Daily and printed in a realistic printmaking style in the morning newspaper published the next day, causing a sensation in the city!

It is natural to ask, why such a fanaticism?

Why would anyone exchange real money for paper money and not get the slightest discount from it?

Could it be that in the long run, gold money, a paper asset, can bring greater returns than real money?

Someone soon stepped forward to answer the question, which sparked national suspicion.

The next day, the front page of the Holy City Daily published a blockbuster article written by John Lauer, Frank's royal thinker.

John Lauer answers the question in this article – why exchange real money for paper money?

The answer is actually quite simple, because it is profitable!

John Lauer pointed out in the article that the issuance of gold banknotes is collateral with magic crystals, and theoretically anyone who scrapes together enough banknotes with a total face value of 625 gold dugga can go to the central bank and ask for an exchange for 1 ounce of magic crystals.

Nowadays, it is no longer possible to exchange bonds or gold and silver for gold and silver to enjoy discounts, but don't forget that the magic crystal, the most important energy and industrial resource in the world of Vares, is also a rare mineral, far more valuable than gold, silver, jewelry, and even antique calligraphy and paintings!

A person now takes out real money and exchanges it for gold banknotes with a total denomination of 625 duga, which at first glance does not seem to make money or lose, but after holding the gold banknotes for a while, if you look at the price of magic crystals in the market, it is likely that it has risen to 650 dugah gold coins per ounce.

At this time, although the denomination of the banknote in your hand is still 625, it can still be exchanged for 1 ounce of magic crystal according to the promise made by the government when it issued the banknote. Then you sell the 1 ounce of magic crystal at the market price, and you will finally get 650 gold coins, which is a net profit of 25 gold coins compared to the 625 gold coins you paid when you exchanged the gold bills!

Do you see the mystery?

The potential value of gold banknotes is far greater than its face value, holding gold banknotes is equivalent to holding magic crystals, with the price of magic crystals rising, gold banknote holders can also sit and eat dividends!

This is why some people are willing to exchange real money for gold banknotes at a ratio of 1:1, because they have a long-term vision and see the appreciation potential of gold banknotes (magic crystals), so they will make such an unreasonable investment in the eyes of ordinary people, but it is actually very smart!

John Lauer's eloquent essay is easy to understand, logical arguments are well organized, and even better, it perfectly caters to the psychological needs of the public who are keen on speculation.

When the time came to the end of 1623, the gold banknote boom that lasted for half a year was in the ascendant, and the issue price of gold banknotes at this time created another miracle, which was actually higher than the face value!

On December 12, the wholesale price of the banknote with a face value of 100 gold dugga to institutional investors was as high as 150 gold coins, and the price in the secondary market was speculated to a staggering 170 gold coins, and it was sold out as soon as it was issued!

The transaction price of the Imperial Gold Notes is like a wild horse, and there is no end in sight to the appreciation. People in the game are in a frenzy, not even thinking about how much foam is in it. At the same time, Roland, who was far away in Krasbourg, was also paying attention to the price fluctuations of the Empire's gold banknotes, and calmly examined the national speculative frenzy that swept all strata of the Empire.

No matter how lucrative the Magic Crystal industry is, it is difficult to find a reasonable economic solution to the crazy rise in the price of gold money, and perhaps only the "collective unconscious" of speculators can explain this crazy phenomenon.

As a time-traveler from Earth, Roland is no stranger to this kind of collective irrational speculative carnival, and he can guess what the final outcome will be.

However, Roland remained tight-lipped during this period, both publicly and privately, he remained silent about the price movements of the Imperial gold banknotes, and waited in silence for the moment when the "trigger was pulled".

Roland didn't mind commenting on the reforms that the imperial authorities were pushing outside of the financial sector.

In October 1623, during the National Day of the Far East, Roland attended a seminar on political economy at the University of Krasbourg. The participants included senior government officials, celebrities from academia and elites from the business community. Roland intends to make this annual event the "Davos Forum" of the world of Vares, so he also invited many foreign celebrities, including the rulers of the member states of the "Far Eastern Court", as well as scholars, entrepreneurs and bankers from Canaan, Fizhen and Hailan.

At the conference, Roland published a review of his research on imperial reform, and he was unabashedly critical of it.

In Roland's view, Prince Frank, as the man at the helm of the imperial reform, made at least two mistakes.

One is that they are too radical and in a hurry; The second is to ignore the implementation and implementation of policies, which can be described as "entrusted to non-people" - if you use the allusions on the earth as an analogy, this is a typical "Wang Anshi-style mistake".

"The policies that Frank facilitated look good on paper, but the question is who will implement them and how to implement them at the grassroots level."

"Take the land rent tax as an example, the reform of the tax law has not changed the tax collection method, or the implementation of the tax package system, the tax contractor took this opportunity to extort and make a windfall, but countless middle-class families went bankrupt."

Frank also established land banks, forcing landowners of all sizes to sell their land and convert it into state-owned farms, while abolishing serfdom and demanding freedom from serfs. If there is no money to redeem oneself, the state pays for it – in effect printing money – to do so, forcing the peasants to work on designated farms and repay the ransom loans on a monthly basis. ”

"These measures seem to be to concentrate land resources to develop large-scale agriculture, and at the same time provide a job for the emancipated serfs, but it is easy to build farms, but it is difficult to run them properly, and Frank only builds and does not operate, and these so-called state-owned farms eventually fall into the transformation of the old-style 'stewards', 'helpers', local tyrants and gentry, and even ruffians In the hands of the farm managers, this gang dug out their hearts and minds, bribed the bureaucrats at all levels in charge of agricultural reform at great expense, seized the privilege of running the farms on behalf of the government, turned around and treated the farm workers with a murderous face, and used the traditional method of 'whips' and 'sticks' to coerce the serfs who had just been liberated from the landlords' estates to work in the fields. ”