Steel, Guns, and the Industrial Party in Another World-Chapter 634: Military Scrip 3
TL: Rui88
“Yes, and we also need to consider the difficulty of allocating various goods, as well as the issue of fairness.”
Catherine also added, “I imagine a soldier who receives apples would feel he has been treated unfairly compared to a soldier who receives salt, because salt holds its value better.”
“You see,” Paul said with a smile, “using goods directly as a means of paying military salaries would lead to many problems in practice.”
“In the ignorant era of antiquity, people’s method of trade was barter. But as the scale and complexity of trade expanded, directly exchanging items became too inconvenient. So, coins appeared. Coins, as a medium for pricing transactions, connected all trade goods, giving birth to true commerce and the prosperous world we have today.”
“So…” Paul finally stated the immature idea he had mentioned at the beginning.
“We can create a new type of transaction medium that neither relies on scarce metals like gold, silver, and copper, yet still possesses the properties of currency. This transaction medium would be for internal use within the army only, and it could be called ‘Military Scrip’.”
“You have to understand, the shops controlled by the royal family are spread throughout Ordo. As long as the king issues a decree that holders of military scrip can purchase goods in royal shops with the same effect as metal coins of the same face value, then paying soldiers’ salaries with military scrip would be equivalent to paying them with metal currency. This way, we would escape the kingdom’s government’s current problem of lacking money.”
Catherine thought for a moment. “This is indeed a good idea. But what should this military scrip be made of? According to your explanation, since it still has the properties of currency, its raw material needs to be scarce, but not too scarce. Diamonds? That is very expensive!”
Paul shook his head and replied, “Paper! We use a standardized printing method to print complex patterns on paper, just like the gold and silver coins currently circulating in the kingdom, such as His Majesty the King’s portrait and the corresponding numerical value of the currency. A piece of military scrip with the same effect as a coin would then be made.”
Paul’s words startled Catherine, and then her brow furrowed. “That seems very easy to counterfeit. I can immediately imagine a scene of fake military scrip flying everywhere.”
Paul nodded. “Mm, I am almost certain that fake military scrip will appear. But we can reduce the risk of counterfeiting by increasing the difficulty of production. The patterns on the military scrip could be made more complex to make them difficult to draw. We could ask a highly skilled seal-engraving master to carve the master plates for printing the military scrip. Some master seal engravers often have their own secret techniques for anti-counterfeiting. I imagine the royal family would certainly not lack such talent.”
Catherine nodded. The royal family did indeed employ such carving talents. When the king issued a decree, it would be stamped with a seal representing royal authority. The stamped pattern naturally had ways to distinguish its authenticity; otherwise, the king’s decrees would also be flying everywhere.
Paul continued to suggest, “The carved master plates must be kept strictly confidential. In addition, we can impose harsh punishments on those who counterfeit military scrip, such as a direct death sentence, to deter potential criminals. Furthermore, we can use the texture of the material for anti-counterfeiting.”
“Use parchment? Parchment is not easy to make.”
“No, although parchment is not easy to make, the production technique is known to people all over the world. So we will use the kind of paper produced in Northwest Bay, made from plant fibers.”
“Are you kidding?” Catherine could not hold back. “The kind of paper you invented is everywhere on the streets; it is not scarce at all. And I have heard that some underground workshops unwilling to pay patent fees have already managed to replicate it.”
Paul said with a confident look, “But the paper from Northwest Bay is still the best quality. And we can change the formula a bit, add something else in, like cotton fluff, and develop a special type of paper specifically for making military scrip. We can make its texture different from ordinary paper, more wear-resistant, more fold-resistant, not like other paper that tears easily. Because it is exclusively for military scrip, we will artificially control its production, artificially make it scarce, and prohibit it from being sold to the public.”
“There is another advantage to making military scrip from paper. Paper is still paper, after all. Unlike gold and silver, it is not as easy to store. Paper will decay, so it will not be hoarded for generations upon generations. Therefore, it will be spent in a timely manner within a certain period.”
Catherine thought of a new problem. “Will the members of the army accept it?”
Paul replied, “Of course, they will not accept it all at once. Military scrip must be promoted gradually within the army, starting with the lowest-ranking soldiers. The material needs of low-ranking soldiers and their families are few. As long as they can purchase enough daily necessities…grain, salt, cloth, wine…their lives will basically be satisfied. And these things can be easily bought with military scrip in the shops run by the royal family.”
“It will not be as easy with the officers. Officers require a high quality of life and need to socialize. Some of the luxury goods they need cannot be exchanged for with military scrip anytime and anywhere…after all, in the beginning, we can only have the royal family’s shops accept military scrip.”
“Even with the soldiers, I do not recommend using compulsory means to make them accept military scrip. We can reach an agreement with them. Those willing to accept military scrip can receive one and a half or even twice their salary, or we can pay soldiers’ salaries with half metal coins and half military scrip. We should target those soldiers from poor backgrounds. Many soldiers have not even touched a coin since they were children. To them, as long as they can buy the supplies they need, it makes no difference whether the money is made of paper or metal.”
“As long as the supply capacity of the royal family’s shops can meet the demand for purchasing various daily necessities with military scrip, the scrip can establish a strong reputation among the low-ranking soldiers.”
“Once this reputation is established, the acceptance of military scrip will increase and gradually spread to the officer class.”
As Paul spoke eloquently, Catherine nodded continuously. She even felt that Paul’s idea was already quite mature.
“Also, in the initial stage, military scrip certainly cannot completely replace coins. So I suggest the kingdom’s government prepare a sum of money. When soldiers and their families have special needs and must use coins, they can use military scrip to exchange for coins of equivalent value.”
“Please note, all of the above is based on having a sufficient supply of goods. If soldiers cannot exchange their military scrip for the goods they need, all promises will be meaningless.”
Eileen suddenly became happy and eagerly suggested, “If that is the case, why limit the use of military scrip to the army? Can it not be promoted throughout society?”
