During the Republican period, due to the long-term turmoil in the country, there were many warlords in various places, and the market and economic order were unstable. As a result, the new monetary system promoted by the government at that time did not work smoothly, and the people had to choose to buy precious metals to preserve their property in order to cope with increasingly serious inflation. This has led to large fluctuations in the price of gold and silver, and if the "big yellow fish" that was popular in the market at that time is put now, the amount of RMB that can be exchanged will definitely make your jaw drop.
Let's push the time back to 1914, when the Republic of China was just established, and Yuan Shikai, in order to express the new dynasty, decided to abolish the monetary system at the end of the Qing Dynasty and recast new coins to circulate among the people, that is, "copper yuan" and "silver dollar", and there was a quantitative exchange relationship between the two. Later, Yuan Shikai ordered the manufacture of gold coins, which came in two denominations: 10 yuan and 20 yuan. However, at that time, the right to mint money did not completely belong to the central government, and local governments and even some non-governmental organizations with official endorsements could issue coins, which led to a large number of currencies in this time period, and the quality was uneven, and regions could not even circulate with each other, and could only "enclosure self-sprouted".
At the same time, in the southern region, because foreign businessmen often use foreign currency to settle payments, some provinces and cities simply use foreign currency as the main currency in the market. We are more familiar with the Mexican Eagle Ocean, which also appears in the article written by Mr. Lu Xun, which also confirms the chaos of the monetary system of the Republic of China.
In addition, bank notes issued by some foreign banks can also be used as general equivalents, and because their exchange rates have been stable, they are more popular than domestic currencies. In 1935, after basically stabilizing the domestic situation, the National Government decided to start a new round of currency reform, widely issuing legal tender to replace other metal currencies such as silver dollars and copper plates.
At first, this measure worked well, the country's financial order quickly stabilized, and the legal currency had a good reputation among the people. However, from the end of 1936, in order to raise funds for the war, the Kuomintang began to issue money indiscriminately and plunder people's wealth, which directly led to the collapse of the monetary system and soaring prices. In order to preserve their property, people began to hoard silver and gold, which led to huge fluctuations in the price of precious metals.
Putting aside the value of the collection, look at the national silver dollar and "small yellow fish" and "big yellow fish", that is, small and large gold bars, the former is about 3 to 4,000 yuan, which is also a lot of property. The price of "little yellow fish" is 9,000 to 11,000 yuan, which was enough for a family of 3 to spend 1 year during the Republican period, and you can also buy a young girl as a maid or concubine.
"Big yellow fish" generally weighs about 310 grams, because of the gap in the level of casting, the gold bars of each property have a slight gap, but roughly will not exceed 320 grams, and its price is about 110,000 yuan. Mr. Lu Xun bought a courtyard house with three large gold bars, and today, three gold bars are enough to buy a more high-end car.
When the time came to the Liberation War, the monetary system of the Nationalist government further collapsed, and both the legal tender and the gold vouchers were seriously devalued, and the common people could not even buy a single fritters with a bunch of money. Chiang Kai-shek once wanted to rectify this phenomenon, but later abandoned it because the interests involved were too deep. In the later period of the Liberation War, the people's government began to build a new monetary system to replace silver dollars, foreign currencies, legal tenders and other general equivalents, and the domestic economic and market order slowly returned to stability.
The essence of the monetary system is national credit, and an unstable government like the national government cannot make the market and the people feel at ease, and the currency it issues will inevitably not be welcomed. Ordinary people have always voted directly from their hearts, and the return of precious metals such as silver dollars and gold bars to the market is enough to explain a lot of problems. It was not until after the establishment of New China that the people's government reconstructed the monetary system and finally solved many economic and financial problems, so that the people were no longer exploited and plundered, and lived a stable and happy life!