Recently, there was a strange phenomenon in the Sixth Street market. As for the specifics …
"Four crystals per kilogram? Why don't you just rob a bank! "With a pile of gold in his hand, the mercenary standing next to the stall yelled.
The peddler yawned and glanced at the survivor.
"The explosives to blow up the vault are free? Getting the stuff back doesn't cost anything? Don't think gold is that easy to pick up. I even encountered a Death Claw that wasn't completely dead. If you don't want to buy it, then don't block the way. You won't be able to buy it in a while. "
After hesitating for a moment, the mercenary still threw the crystals at the vendor. He picked up a few gold ingots and weighed them on the electronic scale. Although the gold ingots were printed with PAC's standard code, it was still safer to weigh them.
The vendor picked up the crystals with a smile and placed them on the detector. After confirming that the number was 16 crystals, the vendor put the crystals into his bag.
The mercenary looked at the gold in his hand with a pained expression, but he still put the gold in his pocket and quickly walked away.
The price of four crystals per kilogram was considered cheap for gold. Why? A piece of canned food cost 10 crystals. Which meant one kilogram of gold could only be exchanged for a pack of instant noodles.
But from the mercenary's expression, he wasn't happy with the price.
It was no wonder he was unhappy.
Since for the people on the wasteland, gold was useless. What was needed in the industry could be recovered from other electronic components. In the early years of the apocalypse, some people did hoard a lot of gold, but they all starved to death.
The value of gold was due to its rarity, corrosion resistance, and widespread recognition. Compared to a population of ten billion, the gold in the PAC territory certainly had enough value. But now that the entire Earth could gather a few hundred million people, if the gold was evenly distributed, each person would receive tens of thousands of tons. Was the value of gold still that safe?
The answer was obviously no.
But if that was the case, why would the mercenary use crystals to exchange for the gold in the vendor's hands?
The main reason was that there were just too many crystals in the Sixth Street!
The spectacular scene of the NAC launching rockets into Wanghai terrified the survivors of the Sixth Street. Half of the city's mutants and zombies were burned to ashes. The scene was hellish.
But then they were shocked by the generosity of the NAC government.
The crystals belonged to whoever picked them up as they only needed to hand over 10% to the military government since the rockets were launched by the military government. The order was difficult to execute as they mainly relied on the tax collection point at the city gate. Fortunately, the tax rate was not high and the survivors were cooperative. And with the existence of the bank, it was much easier to check the accounts.
But even so, the survivors in the base still made it a lot easier to check the accounts.
Those who were diligent could earn seven or eight hundred a day, while those who were slow could easily earn four or five hundred. The ground was littered with the bodies of xenogeneics. There was no need to fight. All they had to do was use a knife to pry the charcoal away.
Not only did the survivors in the camp become rich, but the NAC soldiers also participated in the body picking activities. When the mutants and zombies in the East City slowly returned, it was already half a month later.
In just half a month, everyone had thousands or even tens of thousands of crystals in their hands. There wasn't a single poor person in the entire Sixth Street.
If the wealth was only measured by crystals.
The survivors of the Sixth Street had never been this rich, but this kind of wealth was dangerous. The average wealth far exceeded the total amount of goods on the market. Even if the Sixth Street's factories operated at full speed for ten years, they wouldn't be able to digest all the crystals.
Then, the price of goods skyrocketed. The canned food soared from 10 crystals back to 50 crystals, but it was still sold out. The price of steel that dropped due to the second expedition once again soared back to a peak of 100 crystals per ton, and there was no market for it.
Then, the value of luxury goods returned.
Jewelry, gold, gems … These things that were considered useless in the apocalypse reappeared on the market. A lot of well-off merchants and mercenaries, in addition to depositing crystals into the bank, chose some gold and jewelry as investments for the future. The price of gold also "skyrocketed" from the initial price of 100 crystals per ton to the current price of 4 crystals per kilogram.
In fact, collecting gold was mainly a gamble. If the wasteland could restore order in the future, gold would eventually show its value.
But when the World Alliance Organization launched the colonization ship, most people's expectations were shattered. But the appearance of the NAC allowed the survivors in Wanghai to see hope again, so the expectation of gold was reignited.
Naturally, gold's value rose again.
"It's not a good thing for everyone to be rich. If there aren't enough goods to satisfy the survivors' consumption, a lot of people with the ability will use crystals to spend elsewhere. Since crystals are a hard currency on the wasteland, life in Su City or Hang City may not be better than here, but ten thousand crystals can make you a millionaire there. "
In the virtual conference room, Chu Nan stood in front of the conference table and reported the situation of the Sixth Street.
"What's your strategy?" Jiang Chen rubbed his chin and asked in an undertone.
"The first step is to maintain the stability of the market supply."
"The second step is the step we must take no matter what. Moderate inflation can stimulate economic growth, but excessive inflation will cause the market to wither. The scary thing is not inflation, but inflation out of our control, "Chu Nan said in an undertone.
"You mean, issue currency?" Jiang Chen guessed after he heard Chu Nan's words.
"That's right, this is our top priority." Chu Nan nodded approvingly.
"Issue currency … But what will we use as a guarantee?" Jiang Chen asked.
Gold? Too much. Not only in the hands of the survivors, but there was also too much gold in Wanghai. Although gold was recognized in the Sixth Street, outside of Su and Hang Province, it was not enough to become a hard currency.
After all, the estimated global gold reserves were 60 trillion tons, which was comparable to iron. As of 2005, 89 thousand tons of minerals were discovered, and 125 thousand tons of gold were excavated. God knows what the number was before the war in 2171.
Chu Nan smiled mysteriously when he heard Jiang Chen's question. It was clear that he was prepared.
"General, think carefully about what has a stable demand, and the quantity is controlled by us."
Demand? Control?
Jiang Chen raised his eyebrows, but then he had a sudden realization.
"Could it be … food?"
"That's right! We can use food as a guarantee! "Chu Nan smiled.
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