The next morning, there was a long line in front of the Sixth Street bank.
Under the supervision of the NAC soldiers, people all handed in their crystals and exchanged them for a piece of paper with a special identification code. Some people came out empty-handed.
Was the NAC government robbing people?
Obviously not. The Sixth Street had a strong culture and every survivor had a gun. And from the people's expressions, it was clear that they were trying their best to squeeze in as they were afraid the bank wouldn't accept their crystals. And the NAC soldiers, rather than threatening people, looked more like they were trying to maintain order in the line.
As to why this was the case, it had to be explained by a bill announced yesterday.
To change the current chaotic situation of the Sixth Street market, the NAC government would publicly release a currency called "credit" through the Sixth Street Bank. It wasn't guaranteed by any precious metals, but NAC would guarantee its value with the government's credit.
At the same time, any product defined as specially supplied by NAC could only be traded with credit. These products were all produced by NAC's factories. For example, food, industrial Carm tree sap, roughly processed steel, aluminum, firearms, and so on. It almost covered all the basic fields of production and life.
A catty of rice cost 5 credits, a piece of hardtack cost 2 credits, a catty of flour cost 8 credits … Although the prices of these goods had doubled compared to a month ago, in the current chaotic market, these prices were undoubtedly a lot more reasonable.
Two crystals could be exchanged for one credit at the bank, and exchanging credits back to crystals required a 10% tax. In mid-September, the Sixth Street Bank was expected to release five million credits. The NAC government promised to provide 500 tons of rice, 100 tons of flour, and 100 thousand hardtacks to the market next spring.
The food trading rights in Wanghai were taken back from Zhao Corporation and controlled by the NAC government's market at the west gate of the Sixth Street.
Regarding the distribution of credits, Chu Nan and Jiang Chen had a detailed discussion before they came up with a specific plan.
The denominations of credits were 1, 5, 10, and 100 with a total of three million in circulation. The distribution of virtual coins would be five million and recorded in the individual DNA code. Payments could be made through an EP with a "credit trading chip" implanted in it. All data would be stored in the bank's database. Virtual transactions could only be carried out in the NAC controlled area with an information relay station.
The salaries of employees in the NAC military zone were also changed from crystals to credits to prevent the depreciation of crystals from affecting the assets of employees.
The distribution of credits received widespread support from the merchants of Sixth Street.
These businessmen were all sensible people. Only with a stable order could their assets steadily increase in value and not become worthless overnight.
To support merchants with large deposits, Jiang Chen opened up a dedicated channel for them with a total of 8 million credit points to recover the gradually depreciating crystals in their hands. These specially issued credits were stored in the bank accounts of the major merchants, and it was stipulated that 90% of the credits exchanged through special channels could not be traded in the market before November of this year. 50% will be unfrozen after November and 100% in January next year. In this way, it prevented a large amount of money from entering the market and disrupting the price of goods.
The introduction of credits marked the end of the era of barter in Wanghai.
The crystal point measuring devices that could be seen everywhere on the streets would gradually become a piece of history that people only cherished. With credits, people would use EPs to trade, just like how people in the 21st century pay with their phones.
Not only that, Jiang Chen also planned to push the "NAC standard" even further.
With the invisible economic lever, he would leverage the resources of the entire wasteland. Just like in a certain world, the USD hijacked the world's economy through oil and gold. Credits would use the prosperity of the Sixth Street and NAC's food storage to kidnap the entire trade of the wasteland!
The specific performance was that Zhao Corporation, responsible for the food trade, took the lead in changing the original crystal trading strategy. They used credit points issued by NAC as a commodity for settlement, and crystals were regarded as a commodity, no longer as an equivalent for transactions.
Although the survivors in other provinces had no concept of credits and paper currency, as time went on, more and more merchants would move from the Sixth Street to other provinces, and this currency would one day become the mainstream of the world.
…
With the introduction of credits, the NAC government's storage had accumulated a lot of crystals. After some inventory, Wang Qin placed a statistical report on Jiang Chen's desk.
"No wonder the country likes to print money. It's much faster than collecting taxes." Jiang Chen was shocked.
Just from the three days of currency issuance, NAC's storage was filled with 38 million crystals. It was more than NAC's annual food trade income.
"But we also issued 16 million credits. Rather than saying the money is ours, it's more accurate to say we borrowed it from the market." Out of concern that Jiang Chen would print money without restraint, Wang Qin reminded him, "If we can't provide a matching product by next spring, we may face credit bankruptcy."
But her worry was unnecessary. Jiang Chen understood the danger of inflation. As to why, it was because he personally experienced it …
"Don't worry." Jiang Chen smiled. "The currency circulating in the market is only a small portion of it that will be exchanged for goods. Most of it will still circulate in the market. We only need to prove that our food supply is sufficient, so we don't have to worry about a bank run. Rather than saying the crystals are borrowed from us by the market, it's more accurate to say the market gave us a "protection fee". "
Rather than saying it was NAC's food and industrial production that guaranteed the currency, it was more accurate to say it was the NAC government's credit.
Just like in the 21st century, precious metals were the guarantee of paper money, but people rarely took bundles of paper money to the bank to exchange for precious metals. When people believed in the stability of the country, they would be more inclined to hold onto its currency.
The NAC government controlled the market supply of food products as well as the currency issuance, so there was no need to worry about the currency going out of control.
Issued credits were only part of the plan. Jiang Chen planned to issue a total of 10 million credits to the merchants of the Sixth Street to encourage the factories to expand production.
Now that the zombies and mutants in the West City were completely eradicated, the zombies and mutants in the East City were also in the process of elimination. The situation around the Sixth Street was unprecedentedly relaxed. It was the perfect opportunity to expand!
After Wang Qin left, Han Junhua quickly walked into the office again.
Jiang Chen didn't need to ask to guess why she was here.
It was already the middle of September, and the attack on the city center was about to begin.
"The attack on the city center will involve the First Division and part of the Third Division. A total of 3000 people will be participating in the battle. 41 power armors, 400 kinetic skeletons, 9 Tiger IIs, and 40 armored vehicles. This is the battle plan. "As Han Junhua said this, she neatly placed the tablet on Jiang Chen's table.
The holographic projection expanded and outlined a panoramic map of Wanghai.
The First Division would depart from Qingpu and attack the empty land near Qingpu Airport, then use it as a turning point to attack the city center. The Second Division would use camp 27 as the starting point and attack the city center from the west.
At the same time, the rocket launchers at the Fishbone base would provide full firepower support to the battlefield.
Without hesitation, Jiang Chen pressed his fingerprint on the screen.
"Battle begins!"
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