Chapter 128: Currency (1)

"Hey! Over here! Look this way! I want to trade for cloth... using food!"

"Over here, me! I want to trade wood for chests..."

"Stop shoving! I want to trade potatoes for other food..."

The Kingdom Exchange, constructed primarily of logs and stone bricks, stands as a three-story spire. Spanning 100 blocks in length and 38 blocks in height, it is the third-largest structure in the Block Kingdom, surpassed only by the equestrian breeding grounds on the outskirts and the central Kingdom Castle.

Unlike the solemn and hushed Kingdom Castle or the silent stillness of the horse stables, the Kingdom Exchange is a cacophony of voices, brimming with vibrant energy. Today, the Exchange is packed with crowds, the foot traffic several times higher than usual. Everyone here has a need, arriving with a diverse array of supplies to barter for daily necessities.

"Elder He! We can't hold out much longer! There are just too many people! The staff can't keep up!"

"Wait, I’m working on it!"

"Elder He! The crowd is growing! Our staff is about to reach their breaking point!"

"Just a moment more, I’m handling it!"

Elder He was frazzled. He held a draft sheet, frantically calculating and re-calculating the exchange rates of the reserve supplies.

"All those who were working are on leave, and for some reason, a massive number of people on holiday are flooding the Exchange to make purchases. We have never encountered a situation like this!"

The director in charge of the Kingdom Exchange felt immense pressure. He had never seen such a scenario before. Now that he was witnessing it, he had no idea how to manage it. In theory, this was a good thing—it could improve the staff's proficiency and experience while boosting the Exchange’s influence among the populace. But there were simply too many people; if not handled correctly, it would only lead to negative consequences.

"Go notify Elder Fu at the Ministry of Home Affairs. Tell him what we are facing and that we need reinforcements who are good at arithmetic!"

The Exchange director sent an urgent dispatch to the Ministry of Home Affairs.

"How long has it been? Why hasn't it reached me yet!"

"I’ve been ahead of you this whole time and it hasn't reached me, how could it possibly reach you?"

"This is way too slow!"

There were only five staff members at the counters, while hundreds of customers waited to trade!

The staff had to provide continuous exchange services to an ever-growing crowd. As time passed, they grew physically exhausted, and the pace of trade slowed down. Many customers who had been waiting for a long time grew impatient. They were used to measuring their time down to the second! When to eat, when to head to work, when to work and when to rest—everything was calculated with precision. Even on a holiday, they wouldn't waste time like this. "An inch of time is an inch of gold; gold cannot buy an inch of time"—this was the King’s own motto, after all!

"Next!"

The young staff member with a single ponytail looked exhausted; she had been performing high-intensity calculations for five hours straight.

"Finally!"

The frustrated middle-aged man was overjoyed to hear it was his turn. Over an hour! He’d finally made it! It wasn't easy!

"Right, I want basic sugar, cloth, raw pork, and coal! I’ll trade iron ingots and wheat bread for them!"

"Very well, please wait a moment..."

Glancing at the dense price list on the counter, the girl calculated how many iron ingots or loaves of bread the man needed to pay.

"Based on the quantity you requested, you need to pay 36 loaves of wheat bread or 9 iron ingots..."

"I'll use iron ingots!"

"Understood!"

The man left satisfied with his supplies. Before the girl could even catch her breath, the next customer stepped up, with a long, anxious line still stretching behind him.

"How many more people are there..."

The girl felt a wave of despair; she was going to be worked to death.

"Send a batch of people to the Exchange immediately to relieve the pressure!"

The Deputy Minister of Home Affairs viewed the Exchange as a vital stabilizer for the people’s daily lives and happiness, holding immense significance. "You take these people and go relieve the pressure; I will look for a broader solution..."

The Deputy Minister notified Elder Fu and another deputy to hold a brief meeting. After discussion, the three agreed on the Exchange's importance and immediately requested personnel support from other departments. Not long after, the situation gradually calmed down with the help of manpower from various departments. The shoppers obtained the items they wanted and left the Exchange satisfied.

The incident was compiled into a report and delivered to the King's office.

"Cause, process, climax, conclusion..."

Mo Fangyuan felt another headache coming on. He had discovered a new, major flaw in the Block Kingdom. Following the dangers of monsters, institutional crises, and legal loopholes, the Block Kingdom had exposed a fatal issue: currency and the economy.

The management system used by the Kingdom Exchange was one Mo Fangyuan had copied from the modern supermarket systems of his past life. One could say the personnel management was entirely based on 21st-century standards. In terms of superiority, resource utilization, and efficiency, it was epoch-making; no other system could surpass it. While he wouldn't claim there was zero waste, it was certainly minimal.

Therefore, the problem lay not in the system, but in the primitive, rudimentary economic framework of the Block Kingdom. This was Mo Fangyuan’s biggest headache—he knew nothing about economics! He could bluff his way through politics and find some inspiration, but economics...

Previously, to prevent such incidents, Mo Fangyuan had worked hard to improve systems, increase resource utilization, and enhance efficiency... but these were merely stopgaps. They treated the symptoms, not the root cause.

Now, the document in his hand warned Mo Fangyuan that if he did not make changes, there would be significant trouble ahead. The Block Kingdom was moving forward. As production and the division of labor were forcibly pushed to an epoch-making level by Mo Fangyuan’s information-age mind, the advantages of the system would manifest. The quantity of resources would increase, the variety of goods would expand, and the population would grow...

This would lead to more frequent and complex transactions. The primitive "barter system" would become increasingly difficult. Even if Mo Fangyuan didn't change it, someone else would eventually have to.

"So, it is time for currency to appear..."

Living in an era of an "information explosion," Mo Fangyuan had been exposed to a wealth of knowledge, and he had some understanding of currency. Simply put, currency is something separated from commodities that serves as a fixed, general equivalent. Its main functions include acting as a measure of value and a medium of exchange, as well as a store of value, a means of payment, and world money.

What the Block Kingdom had to face now was the measure of value.