With anxiety and a bit of curiosity, Maggie, led by Rebecca, arrived in front of a large building called the "Magic Technology Research Institute."
It is said that this is the highest research center for Cecil’s magic technology.
It is said that most of those magical devices that are incredible, can exert great power and effect, and are called "perfect runes that cannot be explained by luck" by members of the former Royal Capital Mage Association. Born in this research center and its affiliated facilities.
Maggie once visited the Southern Territory with Victoria, but at that time she did not have the opportunity to visit this technological temple, but today she was invited here to become a member of a great project. It must be said that it was a wonderful arrangement of fate. Driven by strong curiosity, Maggie couldn't help but look at everything in sight: everything here was particularly new to her.
The Institute of Magical Technology is not as magnificent and luxuriously decorated as the Mage Association of the Royal Capital that she is familiar with (that is the facility she can think of that is closest in nature to the temple in front of her). But this large multi-story building has its own unique beauty and solemnity. It consists of a main building and three annex buildings. The foundation of the main building is supported by neatly arranged columns, while the tops of the annex buildings have three Concise and powerful words:
Curious; rigorous; persistent.
This may explain part of the attitude of Cecil scholars towards research.
“These three words were put forward by Master Kamel. It is said that they were the rules adhered to by the scholars of the Gondor Empire. My ancestors thought it made sense, so let us use these three words. Hanging on the roof of the institute," Rebecca said happily next to her, "Stay curious about the world and discover the unknown in curiosity; remain rigorous in the face of the unknown and find the direction of research in rigor; persevere in research. , Verify the results through persistence..."
The imperial princess has a brisk tone and always has a smile on her face. She finally had the opportunity to abandon those palace dresses that looked gorgeous but were inconvenient to move, and started anew. Putting on simple clothes that facilitated movement, Maggie found that she became truly happy after leaving Silver Castle and coming to this research facility.
This "Her Royal Highness" belongs here.
With a smile on her face, Maggie followed the chattering Rebecca and followed a group of men and women working in the research institute into the mysterious building.
When you step into the door, the first thing you see is a spacious and bright hall, illuminated by magic crystal lamps. Corridors and stairs lead to different parts of the institute. The most eye-catching thing in the hall is a statue in the center.
That was not any hero or god that Maggie knew well, nor was it the current emperor of the Cecil Empire. It was just an ordinary-looking middle-aged man wearing a simple robe. , holding a thin little girl, they stood in the center of this temple of knowledge and technology, illuminated by a special magic crystal light, the manHis eyes are gentle and calm, as if watching everyone who walks in here, and every magic technician or rune master who enters the institute will first come to the statue, bow deeply before leaving.
Maggie looked at the statue in surprise and couldn't help but ask: "Who are they?"
"They are the founder of modern magic technology and his daughter Anne. "Rebecca stopped all her laughter and said with a serious expression that Maggie saw for the first time. Then she also came to the statue and bowed deeply.
Maggie was a little at a loss, but she also saluted, and then she saw the words on the base under the statue: To the pioneers.
"Doesn't he have a name?" Maggie asked in surprise and curiosity.
"No...we only know that he is a wild mage and may have stayed at the Royal Capital Mage Association," Rebecca said regretfully, "But we have checked the information of the Royal Capital Mage Association , and I couldn't find the name of this wild mage... He may be just an assistant to a certain great magician, or his name may have been completely erased by the association. You know, in the traditional mage circle, it is very serious to break away from one's own inheritance. The name will be removed from all case files, and nearly a quarter of the magicians of Saint Sunil died in the battle to defend the city. Perhaps the last person who knew his true name also died on the city wall. "
Maggie didn't know what to say for a moment, but Rebecca had smiled again. She smiled brightly and faced the man in the statue: "But it doesn't matter, his creation doesn't Forgotten, as long as we continue to work hard, 'Magic Network' will be remembered by everyone."
Maggie was stunned, but her eyes were deep in thought, while Rebecca had already stepped forward. He walked towards the stairs not far away: "Follow me, follow me, I will introduce you to many people..."
...
Downtown, " In the square in front of the "Lord's Mansion", a group of sentries guarded the avenue leading to the mansion. Several workers were busy at the checkpoint in front of the intersection of the avenue.
With the help of a hoist, a short and stocky worker reached the top of the metal lamppost where the street sign was hung. With the help of a magic terminal, he removed several rivets that fixed the sign. After some shaking, He took off the metal sign that read "Lord Cecil's Mansion" and handed it to the colleague next to him.
A new sign was brought over and installed on the steel frame on the side of the lamppost. On the sign were brand new words: Cecil Palace.
Next to the lamppost hanging the street sign, a magic technician looked up at the words on the sign and couldn't help but shake his head and said: "This is really a concise and clear name..."
"Your Majesty always likes to be concise and clear when naming. The car driven by the magic power is called the magic car, the energy track paved with steel is called the railway, and the tower that can broadcast signals is called the broadcast tower," another The magister who was traveling with him laughed, "I'm used to it anyway."
"Then please explain what the electricity in the 'magic capacitor' means...”
“This is your fault! ! "
......
"Ancestor, the new road signs and map changes have been completed," Hetty reported to Gao Wenhui in the study, "About Lord Cecil's Mansion. News of the name change to 'Cecil Palace' will soon appear in recent newspapers and radio programmes. "
"That's good," Gawain exhaled, then smiled and shook his head, "It's a bit embarrassing to say that I almost forgot this detail before... I saw the 'Lord's Mansion' It was only later that I remembered that the name of the mansion had to be changed. Fortunately, the preparatory committee of the Government Affairs Department still remembered this matter. "
"Taking into account all the details is the basic work of the preparatory committee, and your precious energy should be put on bigger things," Hetty said seriously, "But then again ...The name 'Cecil Palace' is indeed quite uncharacteristic. ”
Gawain gave Hetty a dumbfounded look.
This “Grand Consul” has always been a calm and serious person, but he will occasionally change his mind when there are no outsiders. She became a junior who opened her heart to her ancestors and made fun of her. In addition to using various schemes to cheat the holidays, she also found opportunities to complain about some new terms created by Gawain and jokes that no one could understand. Hobby, this is something Gao Wen is quite familiar with, but sometimes he feels helpless.
“I can’t think of another name – we can’t put a layer of silver foil on the outside of our house. Let's call it 'New Silver Castle'," he smiled and shook his head, "The name is just a code name, so people can understand what it means at once. Even if it doesn't sound distinctive at first, everyone will be familiar with it after a few years. It just feels natural. "
"Actually, there is nothing wrong with the Cecil Palace," Hetty's lips curled up slightly, "But Gordon mentioned something during the meeting the day before yesterday - does this 'palace' need to be expanded? Or simply rebuild it? Although it is still sufficient, as a palace, its scale is really not commensurate..."
Gawain shook his head: "No need, you also said that this palace is still sufficient, no The need for expansion. In my opinion, its scale is already very large. The area alone is no less than that of a small castle, and it is very new. If it is rebuilt just for the sake of grandeur, it would be a waste of precious financial, material and human resources - Holy Spirit Plains So many cities and roads have not yet been rebuilt. "
"You will indeed say that," Hetty said helplessly, "But as far as an empire is concerned, the royal palace is not only a place to live, but also used for royal offices and part of the government. Functional facilities that work well are symbols of a country’s strength and majesty. You should also consider this. "
This time Gawain thought about it seriously, and said slowly while thinking: "What you said makes sense. With the expansion of the Supreme Government Affairs Office and the reorganization of the institutions that manage the operation of the empire, some offices It is going to be transferred here...but it is not something that will be implemented immediately. Even if it is implementedNor will it immediately exceed the capacity of the mansion. The expansion can be planned in advance, but the specific implementation should wait, at least until we no longer have to worry about feeding so many people in the Holy Spirit Plains. "
Hetty lowered her head: "Yes, I understand, ancestor. "
Gao Wen hummed, and then said: "How is the progress of the 'new currency promotion' led by Padrick? "
"The pilot projects have been relatively smooth in several places. Relying on the call of the Government Affairs Department and the sufficient prestige you bring, the public can accept the use of 'paper money' as a voucher for daily transactions, but in most cases Some people have not completely given up on traditional metal currencies, but only regard paper money as a convenient supplement. In addition, according to the results of the survey and interviews, some small businessmen regard "paper money" as a special "contract certificate" "..."
Gawain raised his eyebrows: "Contract certificate?" "
"Yes, just like a voucher for a loan or a voucher for exchanging gold and silver, they believe that banknotes are evidence of wealth issued by the 'bank'. Each banknote is an IOU. This IOU can be The reason for buying things is because the IOU can eventually be used to exchange gold and silver from the bank..."
Listening to Hetty's words, Gawain couldn't help but sigh slightly: "...In the end, we still faced this stage. ”
“Does ‘this stage’ refer to the use of currency? Hetty asked curiously, "Is there anything wrong with it?" ”
“Yes, it is a substitute currency, the plan that Padrick is trying. Each banknote corresponds to verified gold and silver, and the total amount of currency in circulation depends on the amount of precious metals reserved by the bank... The simple and clear currency rules also have simple and clear shortcomings." Facing the curious Hetty, Gawain said seriously He explained, “The biggest hidden danger is that factories will exponentially increase the total amount of social wealth. However, the mining and production speed of gold and silver is limited, the currency that can be used for circulation is also limited, and the scale of investment and trade will be limited. Limited by the amount of money banks can issue... and ultimately a contradiction.
“When the contradiction between the total amount of social wealth and the amount of money issued intensifies to a certain extent, there may be two consequences: either development stagnates, the industry enters a cold winter, and the economy begins to shrink—because social development is 'If you don't advance, you will retreat'; either banks are forced to over-issue debt tokens. No matter what form these debts are in - whether they are special currencies or bonds, they will cause the value of currency circulating in society to far exceed the reserve precious metals.
“Once this situation starts, it will not stop. After it worsens to a certain extent, as long as there is a little social unrest and people want to exchange their substitute currencies for gold and silver, our economy will We will face a disaster... because the gold and silver reserves of the entire banking system have long been unable to keep up with the total wealth produced by industry, let alone the number of banknotes in the hands of the people, and cannot be redeemed as substitute currencies. No matter how powerful the empire is, it can only collapse overnight. between. ”
Gawain’s explanation was as simple and easy to understand as possible, and Hetty was not stupid.A stupid person, after being exposed to various new policies for so long, she understood the principle of this whole link almost immediately, and her face instantly became ugly: she realized that this was an almost unsolvable trap.
As long as the population is increasing and people’s survival needs are increasing, society must continue to develop. And as long as factories are running, the development speed of society will far exceed the growth rate of precious metals such as gold and silver. "Paper currency" that is directly exchanged for fixed amounts of gold and silver will definitely not be able to keep up with the increase in social wealth.
As long as this contradiction appears and accumulates to a certain stage, development stagnation-retrogression or currency over-issuance must be chosen one or the other.
No matter which one you choose, it means disaster.
However, if we do not implement currency reform at all... we will also face the trap of stagnant development. In this world that is not peaceful and stable, this is also a disaster.
"Padrick seemed gloomy when he reported these things to me," Hetty frowned and said slowly, "He said that when he was deducing the currency circulation, he vaguely felt that there was something wrong with it. A very fatal problem, but he couldn't find it... Could it be that this was the trap he noticed?"
"He actually noticed it?" Gawain opened his eyes in shock, but he quickly recovered. Calmly and naturally, "That's right...these rules are summed up by humans..."
"This 'trap' is too scary," Hetty said with lingering fear, "Isn't there a way to solve it?"
"There is another form of currency...but it's really hard to say which one is worse," Gawain frowned and slowly shook his head. "But few things in the world are perfect. This is especially true for man-made things. In short, we are still in the stage of collecting data and social verification. Let Padrick complete this phase of pilot acceptance first, and also wait for Daniel to collect further information on Typhon's currency reform. After all the information is gathered, we will discuss the follow-up matters."
After the battle at the Changfeng Defense Line, Gawain now has no more psychological burden about touching Typhon across the river. It is said that the other side has entered. Having reached the application stage of banknotes, the valuable social experiment data cannot be missed.