Another monetary reform was carried out by the Nanjing government to solve the financial crisis. In 1930s, American currency abandoned the silver standard and adopted the gold standard, which stipulated that 1 ounce of gold was equal to $35. At the same time, buying silver in the international market (London) led to an increase in the price of silver in the international market. China's monetary system is based on silver, but it does not produce much silver. The rise in the price of silver in the international market has caused a large outflow of silver from China, especially the armed smuggling by Japanese imperialism in northeast China and north China, which has caused a large outflow of silver from China. At the same time, the rising price of silver makes China's currency appreciate, imports soar, and exports are blocked, which affects the balance of international payments of economy and development. If it is not reformed in time, it will lead to the financial collapse of China. Nanjing government negotiated with Britain and the United States to provide foreign exchange guarantee for currency reform. Finally, it won the strong support of the United States (see Sino-US silver negotiations for details). Therefore, the Nanjing government decided to reform the monetary system, stop the circulation of silver dollars, and use paper money issued by the Central Bank, Bank of China, Bank of Communications and Farmers Bank (later added) as legal tender for grain trading and tax payment. Legal tender is pegged to the pound and the dollar.

In the TV series watched now, the ancients can use dozens of taels, even hundreds, thousands and tens of thousands of taels of silver. What's more, you can often take out hundreds of thousands of silver tickets from your pocket. There are two misunderstandings here. First, I thought that one or two pieces of silver in ancient times were equal to one yuan today. Second, I thought that the ancient silver ticket was today's paper money or check.

In fact, China was short of silver in ancient times, and the value of silver was very high. One or two pieces of silver is equal to 1200 (before the early Qing Dynasty) to more than 3,000 (after Daoguang). Until the end of the Qing Dynasty, a catty of pork (equivalent to 65,438 +0.2 catty) only needed twenty pence, and an acre of fertile land only needed seven or eight taels of silver or twelve or thirteen pieces of silver. A few taels of silver, dozens of taels of silver is a big deal, and one hundred taels of silver is today's big money, which can buy more than ten acres of fertile land. In the Ming Dynasty, a civilian's life was only one and a half cents a year, so Qi Jiguang's pay was only three cents a day, less than one or two cents a month. It was a little more expensive in the Qing Dynasty, mainly because of the large foreign trade surplus before the Opium War and the decline in the price of silver after a large amount of silver flowed in. Later, after a large amount of compensation, the price of silver and copper rose again. Ordinary people use copper coins. Copper coins were used in the late Qing dynasty, and silver was rarely used in daily transactions. Many ordinary people have never seen silver until they die. So when you say you have no money (poverty), you use "no copper money" instead of "no silver" This is also one of the reasons why people often value silver.

In the Republic of China, silver dollars began to circulate and were called national currency. People call it "Yuan Datou". Its value is also relatively high, and it can be exchanged for copper coins above 180. According to the current price level, today's purchasing power, one yuan of silver is about equal to today's RMB for 35 yuan. Considering the development of production and the decline in the prices of grain and daily necessities, 1 Yuan Bai silver is about equal to RMB 100 today. If calculated by the price of silver, it is about RMB 50-60 yuan today. At that time, running a better printing and dyeing factory cost less than 10 thousand yuan. At that time, buying a better car was about 1000 yuan. So there won't be a situation where you take out a silver dollar to buy a steamed bread, at most a copper coin.

In fact, the silver ticket is an exchange certificate issued by Shanxi draft bank, which is secret, not a bank note (banknote) that can be redeemed at sight. You have to pay an exchange fee to use the silver ticket.

Businessmen who do big business need silver tickets. You can avoid the risk of carrying a lot of cash, and it is convenient and the cost is similar to that of carrying a lot of cash yourself. Neither ordinary people nor officials need it. So there won't be hundreds of thousands of silver tickets out of their pockets to pay the bill. Even if you pay, businesses and ordinary people will not accept it. Its circulation is not as good as today's personal checks.

note:

In the past two months, the price of gold has risen sharply. For example,

In March, Shanghai Laofengxiang Co., Ltd.' s offer of thousands of gold reached 179 yuan/gram, while the price of gold jewelry in Nanjing Baoqing Jewelry Store rose to 188 yuan/gram, while that of Chow Tai Fook was close to 197 yuan/gram. The prices in Guangzhou and Lanzhou have already exceeded the mark of 180 yuan/gram.

Therefore, the prices of gold and silver mentioned in this article should change.