Chapter 857: Various Coupons

As for the designs of the various coupons, after much tossing and turning, Baifeng finally gave up on drawing portraits, because for him, drawing portraits was still somewhat difficult, and even if he did draw them, if you didn't say who it was, who would know? Fuxi, Shennong? Have you ever seen them? On what grounds could you say they look like that?

So Baifeng simply drew various crops on the Grain Coupon. You recognize wheat, right? You recognize rice, right? And they are also very easy to draw. The crop with the highest yield in Huaxia is soybeans, so on the 100-jin Grain Coupon, he drew soybeans; for the 50-jin one, he drew rice and wheat together, just like a national emblem, with wheat on one side and rice on the other.

The remaining small denominations are for other miscellaneous grains. As for why use Grain Coupons, it is because Grain Coupons are convenient to use. Residents can exchange their own grain for Grain Coupons, so when they go out to buy things and trade with each other, they can use the Grain Coupons directly. As for how much to issue, it depends on how much grain is in the warehouse.

If there is a particularly large harvest of grain in a certain year, the price of grain will naturally be low, and the corresponding Grain Coupons will also become less valuable; this is inflation. If there is less grain, the Grain Coupons will become more valuable; this is the opposite, deflation. Because it is currently a small-scale, limited issuance, Baifeng can completely control this inflation and deflation rate within a reasonable range, and will not let the Grain Coupons he made become waste paper.

If the Grain Coupons can be used stably for a few years or more than a decade, and then a currency is issued to replace the Grain Coupons, then everyone's recognition and acceptance of the so-called currency will have no resistance. If the Grain Coupons collapse after being used for a year or two, it is estimated that it will be very difficult for Baifeng to issue currency again in the future, unless it is currency minted from copper or Iron, which at least has its own intrinsic value, unlike the Grain Coupon, which is just a piece of paper.

And in this era where grain is the general equivalent used for mutual exchange, the Grain Coupon can actually be said to be a grain-standard currency. Just like the US dollar, which is a gold-standard general equivalent, why is the US dollar so strong? Because the US dollar is pegged to gold. Certain dynasties in history were silver-standard, with currency pegged to silver; as long as silver did not collapse, their currency remained strong, so even in international trade, Huaxia's currency could be recognized and circulated.

Besides the Grain Coupon, there is the Meat Ticket that everyone looks forward to and cares about the most. For the Meat Ticket, besides the weight, Baifeng specifically separated mutton, pork, and other general meat tickets. The issuance of pork is the largest because Huaxia produces the most pork.

As for the others, they are like fish, chicken and duck, and the miscellaneous prey brought back from hunting in the mountains. Huaxia is not short of fish at all; after all, Huaxia is right in front of the Dahe. Even after long-term fishing, if people want to eat fish, they can take a fishing rod and still catch fish.

Not to mention the Dahu, which has already become Huaxia's exclusive fishing ground; the number of fish brought back from there every day is extremely large. Except for the fishing ban during the breeding season, fishing is allowed at other times, and Huaxia also has its own dug-out Fish Ponds.

In addition to the fish catch, various soft-shelled turtles, crabs, and shrimp are also abundant. These meats have become the main source for Huaxia people to supplement animal protein. Although aquatic products are cheap and plentiful, enough to supply every family, everyone prefers beef and mutton. Baifeng doesn't know why either; perhaps what one loves but cannot have is the most precious?

If you want to buy aquatic products, there is no limit at all, so it is impossible for anyone to use the so-called general Meat Ticket to buy aquatic products. It can only be used to buy game, but the number of wild beasts caught back to Huaxia every day is very limited, especially in a situation where Huaxia's range of activity is getting larger and larger and the impact is becoming more and more obvious. Many large wild beasts will stay away from Huaxia, and the chance of catching prey like wild deer and wild sheep is already very small.

Unless those hunters spontaneously organize a long-distance hunt, going to farther places to hunt for a few days, they will have the opportunity to catch large wild beasts to supplement the meat for the residents of Huaxia.

As for Beef, don't even think about it. Baifeng is on the verge of ordering a ban on the slaughter of plow cattle. Cattle are too important to Huaxia. Even Baifeng might only be able to eat Beef once in a long while, and Beef has also become the exclusive domain of the Noble. Once a cow is slaughtered for some reason, it is immediately divided according to the cuts and sent to the homes of various Noble. There is no chance to see it on the market; even if a little is left, the people from the Ministry of Revenue will take it away.

Baifeng did not make Oil Coupons because for Huaxia, it is not necessary. Every household is not short of it. Although the taste of Soybean Oil is not great, it is true that because of the extremely high yield of soybeans, everyone in Huaxia can afford to eat Soybean Oil.

People are not short of grain either, but issuing Grain Coupons is mainly for the convenience of trade, not really to let them trade grain. The monetary attribute of the Grain Coupon is extremely clear.

Another type of coupon is the industrial coupon: Cement coupons, Brick and Tile coupons, Glass coupons, etc. Because everyone has grain, it is equivalent to having wealth. Once you have money, you have to build new houses, but these building materials in Huaxia are mostly reserved for various projects. Still, the same point: not many are put on the market. Now that the period of free housing distribution has passed, if you want a house, you can only build it yourself.

But for various Iron tools, no coupons are needed, because those tools can even be passed down. An Iron Axe is used for three generations; the person is gone, but the axe remains. Therefore, the demand for various Iron tools among ordinary people is not very large. Even if they don't have one at home, in an emergency, they can borrow one from a neighbor.

And for things like umbrellas and Porcelain, coupons are even less needed, because the output itself is not very high. Once they are produced, they are first sent to the upper-class Noble for selection and purchase, and the rest are gradually released downward. Why? Because the original intention of these good things appearing was for Baifeng to harvest the wealth of the Noble. If he doesn't sell them to the Noble first, who should he sell them to?

When their demand is saturated, then appropriately lower the price and continue to move down, occupying the market of the entire class. The Ministry of Works is a department, but all the income goes to the National Treasury, and the National Treasury, in the final analysis, is Baifeng's. Baifeng has his own private treasury, but the entire Huaxia is Baifeng's, and the National Treasury is naturally his too. That is just the capital Baifeng uses to regulate the wealth of his entire country.

Cloth Coupons and leather coupons go without saying; as humans, they are all necessary. But all these coupons are not issued for free; rather, they are for them to subscribe to. Once you buy them back, you can then take the coupons to buy those things, and you won't need money, nor will you need to fight for them. As long as you have the coupon, you have the qualification to purchase.