The Fourth Financial Crisis

Since the trade in the Arctic State mainly focuses on mortal living supplies, and the voyage mileage is very long, the overall profit margin of this route is also quite slim, far less profitable than the outlying island trade, and even worse than the trade route from Haiya City to Yangjiang Port. The profit margin is high, but its advantage lies in the huge trade volume.

Since billions of mortals in the entire Arctic state are supported by major ocean-going traders, the total trade volume of the Arctic state routes has gradually accounted for 40% of the entire Eastern Ocean trade. This market share is still in the south. This was achieved when the major cultivation chambers of commerce in Nanman State barely participated in the trade of Arctic State.

The trade volume of Huoyun State itself accounts for nearly 20% of the Eastern Ocean trade.

If Huoyun State and Arctic State reach a free trade agreement, it will be equivalent to nearly 60% of the entire Eastern Ocean trade being controlled by the Shenhuo Sect. If the Haiya Chamber of Commerce, which accounts for about half of the Eastern Ocean trade share, also chooses to join With this trade alliance (this is almost an inevitable result after the Haiya City crisis), approximately 65% ​​of the entire Eastern Ocean trade will be covered by this "Northeast Ocean Free Trade Zone".

If things really develop to this point, Tian Daxiao will have too many things to do.

As we all know, the strength of financial power ultimately depends on the strength of the real economy behind finance.

On Earth, the euro has been able to challenge the status of the U.S. dollar just after it was born. This is because at the beginning of the 21st century, one-third of global trade volume was related to Eurozone countries. The usage of the euro was even higher than that of the U.S. dollar at one time, and the euro is gradually moving towards The weakness is also directly related to the Eurozone's declining share of the global economic aggregate.

If Tian Daxiao can control this super trade alliance, he can even establish the "Second Spiritual Stone Reserve Bank" affiliated with Fire Cloud State at any time. Relying on the terrifying trade flow of the Arctic State, this newly established Spiritual Stone Reserve Bank can almost directly obtain The credibility is on par with the existing Lingshi Reserve Bank.

Based on Yang Lu's understanding of Tian Daxiao and Li Qingyang's original evaluation of Tian Daxiao, he even felt that Tian Daxiao organized the establishment of the "Northeast Ocean Free Trade Zone" with this goal in mind.

Moreover, economic integration is always the precursor of political integration. If Tian Daxiao's political skills are high enough, he can smoothly integrate the six extreme northern sects into the trading system dominated by the Shenhuo Sect. In the future, the Shenhuo Sect is even expected to develop into a business spanning two major states. As a super power, by then, the title of the world's largest sect may have changed hands!

Although Yang Lu had never underestimated Tian Daxiao's strategic layout, this time he was still shocked by the opponent's generosity: "Hiss... when did Tian Daxiao infiltrate the Arctic State like this?"

Qu Jing explained in a deep voice: "The six sects in the Far North in the early years were similar to the casual cultivators in Antarctica today. They were the most inconspicuous existences in the entire Kyushu cultivation world. All sects needed to hold on to the thighs of the seven major sects in order to obtain limited benefits. Living space. Although the Six Extreme North Sects became stronger and formed a loose alliance under the leadership of Liuyun Sect, temporarily getting rid of the control of the seven major sects, the Six Extreme Northern Sects still have the legacy left by the seven major sects. shadow."

"Elder Qu means..."

"Yue Jianshan, currently ranked third among the six sects in the Far North, was a semi-vassal sect protected by the Shenhuo Sect back then. Therefore, Yuejianshan has always been very close to the Shenhuo Sect. This is why they actively responded to the Shenhuo Sect. action."

After hearing Qu Jing's introduction to the history of the Six Sects in the Far North, Yang Lu suddenly showed a look of enlightenment: "No wonder... In that case, which sect was the Hanguang Sword Sect protected by?"

Qu Jing glanced meaningfully in the direction of the headquarters of the Wuliang Sword Sect and said: "We were a sect protected by the Wuliang Sword Sect back then. However, after the six sects in the far north formed an alliance, the Wuliang Sword Sect seemed unwilling to continue to maintain that level. Especially after Lu Yang, the president of the Lingshi Reserve Bank, came to power and promoted Yin Huaiyuan’s Arctic Cold Palace to the position of boss in the Arctic state, the relationship between us naturally became colder."

Hearing what Qu Jing said, Yang Lu was a little confused about whether it was true or not.

After all, according to the official history of the cultivation world, Governor Lu probably had no intention of supporting Yin Huaiyuan at that time. However, no one participated in the development plan of the Wilderness Territory that he led at first. Only Yin Huaiyuan, a Nascent Soul stage monk, signed up to respond. Let Arctic Han Palace get a big deal.

But in the eyes of the Hanguang Sword Sect, this seems to have become an act of betrayal. It is no wonder that the Hanguang Sword Sect not only has no good impression of the Wuliang Sword Sect, but even sends people to help the Haiya Sect to fight against the Wuliang Sword Sect.

Compared with the Wuliang Sword Sect and the Hanguang Sword Sect, which have gone their separate ways, the Shenhuo Sect has always been interested in maintaining a good relationship with Yuejianshan, which also allowed Tian Daxiao to find a breakthrough for uniting the Arctic State.

While Yang Lu was thinking thoughtfully, Qu Jing continued to introduce the situation in the Arctic State: "Yue Jian Shan was originally close to the Shenhuo Sect, and Tian Daxiao also used the power of the Haiya Chamber of Commerce and the Arctic Han Palace to establish To put pressure on us and Haiyuan Island, if our two families can reach an agreement, then four of the six extreme northern sects are willing to join Tian Daxiao's free trade agreement, and it will be difficult to form the two votes of Liuyun Sect and Jiguang Pavilion. Objections."

Yang Lu nodded and said: "Actually, the core of the problem is Arctic Cold Palace. Without the support of Arctic Cold Palace, Tian Daxiao would not be able to get the two votes from Haiyuan Island and Arctic Cold Palace. Now Tian Daxiao has three votes in hand, and then pass The Haiya Chamber of Commerce has won the last and most critical vote from you, and now he is completely convinced!"

Qu Jing also sighed softly: "Although all signs indicate that the Arctic Cold Palace has been controlled by the Shenhuo Sect, no one knows why Tian Daxiao can force Yin Huaiyuan to act as his lackey, just like no one knows that Tian Daxiao Why can you persuade the Haiya Chamber of Commerce to put so much pressure on our Hanguang Sword Sect..."

Obviously, Qu Jing still didn't know what happened that night when Lin Jianxing came to Haiya City in person. He also didn't know that the Haiya Chamber of Commerce forcibly put pressure on the Hanguang Sword Sect, which was the core condition for the Shenhuo Sect to come forward to protect the Haiya Sect.

Since the other party didn't know about it yet, Yang Lu naturally had no intention of bringing it up.

After all, although Qu Jing told him a lot of things today, most of these things were not secrets. They were either about to be announced, or there was no evidence to prove it, and they were not worth Yang Lu's exchange for solid inside information.

So Yang Lu changed the topic and brought up another matter: "Since you suspect that Tian Daxiao has turned the Arctic Cold Palace into his own puppet, why did you choose to join this free trade agreement instead of boycotting it collectively? Although The Haiya Department can put pressure on you, but after all, they are only your allies, not your superiors..."

Qu Jing chuckled and said with some disapproval: "Although the Northeast Ocean Free Trade Zone was promoted by Tian Daxiao, it does not mean that we will suffer a loss if we join. Now everyone can see that Lingshi Reserve Bank has become Lin Jianxing He is a puppet who has never had any credibility at all. He even plans to use the Lingshi Reserve Bank to carry out the bad debts of their Zhongzhou Chamber of Commerce. If this example is used, we cultivators from other states will probably become leeks under Lin Jianxing's sickle. !”

After Qu Jing's explanation, Yang Lu fully understood.

In fact, the Hanguang Sword Sect is similar to most cultivation sects outside Zhongzhou. It has long distrusted the Lingshi Reserve Bank under the control of Lin Jianxing. However, just like the difficulties faced by other overseas sects, except for the Lingshi Reserve Bank issued by the Lingshi Reserve Bank, Apart from stone coins, they have no other alternative currency options.

If any cultivating force refuses to accept Lingshi coins, it is equivalent to being cut off from the Kyushu trade cycle. The consequences are even more serious than a country on earth being kicked out of the SWIFT system by US imperialism. After all, the earth does not only have one currency, the US dollar, but the entire In the Jiuzhou cultivation world, apart from spirit stone coins, only spirit stones can be barely used as currency.

However, the spiritual stone-based currency system has been realized by cultivators very early on that it has huge flaws.

The most obvious problem is that the market price of each piece of spirit stone has reached as high as more than 14,000 spirit stone coins. In addition, the spirit stone itself cannot be cut again, which makes it impossible to carry out small-scale retail business activities in the mortal world, even during the Qi refining period. It is impossible for cultivators to spend money in units of spirit stones. If cultivators and mortals use different currencies, the economic system of the entire Kyushu cultivation world will not be able to operate normally.

As early as the Ye Lun era, the Kyushu cultivation world had adopted a three-currency system of gold, silver, and spiritual stones. High-level cultivators used spiritual stones to trade, while mortals and low-level cultivators used gold and silver to trade. Then Ye Lun took the lead. The seven major factions of the Monetary Union will set an official price for the exchange rates between the three currencies.

In the early years when the price of spirit stones was not so expensive, this financial system could barely function. However, as the population of the Kyushu cultivator community continued to grow and the number of cultivators continued to increase, the spot price of spirit stones increased day by day and entered a long-term appreciation channel. For cultivators, the hard currency properties of gold and silver did not increase. Therefore, it soon appeared that cultivators only recognized spiritual stones but not gold and silver. There was even a shortage of supply of gold and silver itself.

Therefore, the three-standard currency system founded by Ye Lun was eventually replaced by the Lingshi Voucher system founded by Bo Nanke.

However, Bo Nanke's monetary system did not change the cultivators' mindless saving habit of hoarding spiritual stones. This resulted in the total amount of spiritual stone certificates used for circulation still being unable to meet the growing demand for trade. In the past two thousand years, ocean trade has exploded. Not only did it further increase the global currency demand, but it also challenged the very existence of Lingshi Vouchers that could not be exchanged across states at will, causing Lingshi Voucher smuggling to become a pillar industry in Haiya City for a time.

So far, the world of cultivation has developed to the fourth generation currency system. If you want to reverse course and return to the spirit stone standard era, you are going against the trend of history, and you will definitely cause huge troubles.

Therefore, the only way to break the situation is to issue a new generation of spiritual stone credit currency.

But the problem is that the spirit stone currency can become the mainstream currency in the Kyushu cultivation world, not because the spirit stone reserve bank has the exclusive right to issue currency, but because the spirit stone currency is essentially endorsed by the equity of the seven super spirit stone veins. , looking at the entire Kyushu cultivation world, there is no asset with stronger credibility than these seven mineral veins.

However, the seven super spirit stone veins are firmly in the hands of the seven major sects in Kyushu. The earliest spirit stone coins were actually issued by the Wuliang Sword sect on their own initiative and took out their own water spirit stone veins as collateral. Since then, the other six sects have At the request of the Ascension Immortal, each took out a part of the equity of their own spirit stone veins and listed them publicly on the Wuliang Sword Sect Stock Exchange, which further enhanced the credibility of the spirit stone coins. This is how the spirit stone coins that are popular in Kyushu today came into existence.

If other cultivation forces want to issue a new spirit stone credit currency to replace it, they must master one of the seven super spirit stone veins. Otherwise, this new currency will have inherent deficiencies in terms of credit endorsement. It is this fatal problem that will completely block it. It increases the possibility of ordinary cultivation forces issuing new currencies.

Even if the Arctic Cold Palace unifies the Arctic State and has a combat power no less than that of the seven major sects, as long as Yin Huaiyuan cannot transform the super spirit stone vein, he will not be able to provide sufficient credit endorsement for the currency he issues, and naturally he will have to Not recognized by other cultivators.

After all, if you can't provide strong enough collateral, why would other cultivators be willing to exchange their lifetime wealth for the IOU issued by you? Aren't everyone afraid that you will turn your back on me?

In fact, in the past five hundred years, there have been many illegal fund-raising scams in the Kyushu cultivation world under the banner of "issuing new currency". The main messengers behind these scams are many famous sects and large-scale cultivation chambers of commerce. The tricks of the scam are It is exactly the same as the ICO in the currency circle of the earth, causing countless leeks to lose their money.

Therefore, when ordinary cultivators hear the statement "issuance of new currency", they will almost instinctively feel vigilant, just like the instinctive reaction of ordinary people on earth after hearing "Have you heard of Amway?"

It is extremely difficult to prove that the currency you issue is not a money-making scam.

And this is only one of the reasons.

The more important reason is that the Wuliang Sword Sect still had the largest fist in the Kyushu cultivation world at that time.

Although they had not yet ascended in the day when the spirit stone coins were issued, Ma Tianyi at that time was already recognized as one of the greatest cultivators in thousands of years. He was also the second cultivator to reach Yuan Dynasty since the second Heavenly Dao Crisis. A cultivator of the infant Dzogchen realm.

Even if the heads of the other six major sects at that time were shoulder to shoulder, they might not be able to defeat the leader Ma before his ascension.

And just a few months after the Lingshi Coin was officially issued, Ma Tianyi completed his merits and successfully entered the Immortal Realm, becoming the first person in the world of Kyushu cultivation since the second Heavenly Dao Crisis!