The next morning, there was a long line up in front of the Sixth Street Bank.
Under the supervision of NAC soldiers, people handed in their crystals and changed them into papers with a special identification code. Some even walked out empty handed.
Is the NAC government robbing people?
Clearly not. Due to a culture that praised power, all the survivors possessed guns. And from people rushing in with an expression afraid that the bank wouldn’t accept their crystals, they clearly wanted to be inside. And the NAC soldiers that looked threatening were ensuring order in the line.
As to the reason, it had to do with a newly implemented policy.
To change the current chaotic pricing environment on the Sixth Street market, the NAC government used the Sixth Street bank to introduce a new currency known as “credit point”, credit in short. It was not guaranteed by any precious metal. Instead, it was guaranteed by NAC’s credit.
At the same time, any of the products defined as specially supplied could only be traded with credit. The products were all made through NAC factories. For example, food, Carm tree sap, iron, aluminum, firearms, etc. It covered almost all the necessities of life.
A kilogram of rice was ten credits, a compressed cracker was two credits, a kilogram of flour was 16 credits… Although the price doubled compared to a month ago, in the currently chaotic market, the price was indeed thoughtful.
Two crystals were equivalent to one credit, and credit point exchanging back to crystals had a 10% tax to it. In mid-September, the Sixth Street planned to introduce 5 million credits and the NAC government promise to provide 500 tons of rice, 100 tons of flour, and 100 thousand pieces of compressed crackers to the market by next spring.
The rights for the food trade in Wanghai was taken back from Zhao Corporation and controlled by the market established by the NAC government at the west gate of the Sixth Street.
The quantity of the credits introduced was a decision made after careful deliberation between Jiang Chen and Chu Nan.
The paper bills had the amount of 1, 5, 10, 100, with a total of 3 million credits distributed. 5 million virtual credits were released and recorded with the DNA sequence of the individual and used with EP implemented with the “credit trade chip.” All data was stored in the bank’s database, and virtual trades must be done in NAC jurisdictions with information relay stations.
The employees in the military zone of NAC would be paid in credits to prevent the depreciation of crystals impacting the net worth of its employees.
The introduction of credit received extensive support from the Sixth Street merchants.
The merchants were all smart people. They knew that only the existence of order would allow for their assets to continually appreciate and to prevent everything they own from becoming worthless the next day.
To the merchants with a high amount of crystals, Jiang Chen opened an exclusive channel for them with a total of 8 million credits dedicated to them to collect the crystals depreciating in their hands. The specially introduced credits would be stored in the merchant’s account. Jiang Chen also outlined that before November of this year, 90% of the special credits could not enter the market. 50% would be made available after November before lifting the restriction in January of next year. This would prevent a large amount of currency from flooding the market and disturbing the price.
The introduction of credits marked the end of the era where goods were traded for goods in the Wanghai area.
The crystal detector commonly found on the streets would gradually become part of history. With the credits, people would choose to trade with EPs, just like how people paid with their phone in the 21st century.
Not only this, Jiang Chen planned to push the “NAC standard” to other places.
Use the invisible fulcrum known as Economics to lift the resources of the wasteland. Just like in the other world, where the USD used gold and oil to kidnap the world economy. Credits would use the prosperity of the Sixth Street and the food storage of the NAC to control all trades on the wasteland.
The specifics were demonstrated by the Zhao Corporation changing their crystal strategy and use NAC credits to charge for goods. Crystals would become one of the products and no longer used as a trade equivalent.
Although the survivors outside of the province had no concept of credits and bills, with the passage of time and more merchants heading out of the Sixth Street, the currency would one day become the currency of the world.
…
Followed by the introduction of credits, NAC government had a huge storage of crystals. After thorough auditing, Wang Qin put a report on Jiang Chen’s desk.
<Credits Distributed: 16 million, Crystals Accepted: 38 million.>
“No wonder the government loves to print currency, it is a much faster way to make money than taxes.” Jiang Chen was shocked.
Just from three days, the NAC treasury expanded by 38 million crystals; comparable to one year of NAC’s total food trade.
“But we also distributed 16 million credits. Rather than saying this money belongs to us, it was more fitting to say we borrowed it from the market.” Wang Qin was worried that Jiang Chen would start to mass print currency, so she warned him, “If we cannot supply the products we promised by next spring, we may face a credit bankruptcy.”
But her concern was clearly extraneous. Jiang Chen knew clearly the harm of inflation. As to why, he had personally experienced it before…
“Don’t worry.” Jiang Chen smiled. “Out of the total currency amount, only a small amount will be used in the exchange for products. Most of the currency will flow into the market. As long as we can prove that the food supply is sufficient and stable, we don’t have to worry about a bank run. Rather than saying the market let us burrow the crystals, I think it is more of a “protection fee” the market gave us.
Rather than saying it was the NAC’s food and production that guaranteed the currency, it was more appropriate to say it was the NAC government’s credit.
Just like precious metals in the 21st century was the guarantee for paper bills, only rarely did people use stacks of bills in exchange for precious metals. When people believed in the stability of the country, people would be in favor of holding its currency.
NAC government would control the market for food and the amount of currency circulating on the market. There was no need to worry that the currency would lose control.
Distributing credit was only part of it. Jiang Chen planned to use the Sixth Street bank to lend out 10 million credits in total to encourage the factories to increase production.
The mutants and zombies on the west side of the city were completely wiped out and the plan to wipe out the east side was in progress. The situation in areas surrounding the Sixth Street was never so slack before and it was the perfect opportunity to expand out!
After Wang Qin left, Han Junhua came into the office.
Jiang Chen didn’t need to ask to know the intention of her visit.
It was mid-September already and the plan to attack the city center was about to commence.
“The plan of attack will require the mobilization of First Corps and part of Third Corps. A total of 3000 personnel, 41 power armors, 400 kinetic skeletons, 9 Tiger IIs, 40 armored vehicles will be involved. This is the plan of attack.” Han Junhua with crisp motions put the tablet on Jiang Chen’s table.
The hologram expanded and outlined the map of Wanghai.
The First Corps would move from Qingpu and attack the area near the Qingpu airport. Then this will become the starting point of attacks on the city center. The Third Corps would attack the city center from the west through Camp 27.
At the same time, the artillery in the Fishbone base will provide support.
Without hesitation, Jiang Chen inputted his fingerprint onto the screen.
“Let the battle begin!”