1840 Indian Rebirth

Chapter 149 [Maidu People]

"good idea!"

"That's right, we should mint our own gold coins!"

This proposition of Du Tiao has been echoed by many, and it is almost always uplifting to have something of one's own nationality.

"I think we should also mint some silver coins of our own, and copper coins!"

Vertical Wolf hesitated for a moment: "It's okay to talk about gold coins, but as for silver coins and copper coins...we don't have silver or copper mines."

Du Wang said: "Then melt the white people's silver and copper coins and change them into our own!"

Ma Shao laughed and said: "Isn't this a loss-making business? You know, coinage also has costs. On this issue, we should treat it the same as we treat the calendar, and we should first value convenience."

"We will turn the gold produced here into gold ingots or bars, and then send them to Sleeping Bear City as the financial revenue of Sleeping Bear City."

Du Wang: "Although gold ingots can also be used, it is somewhat inconvenient... I think it's better to cast them into gold coins, and you can also print your head portrait on it."

Ma Shao said: "No, now the gold and silver coins minted by white people are fine. They are all gold and silver anyway. When we need and have the conditions to make our own currency, most of them will be paper money."

"Paper money?" Du Tiao was taken aback, "Didn't we always accept paper money?"

Ma Shao said slowly: "We just don't accept existing American banknotes. Those US dollar banknotes are issued by private banks, and the level of anti-counterfeiting is also worrying. Of course, they are of little value."

"But with the development of technology and social system, the design of banknotes will become more and more mature. It will eventually become something issued and guaranteed by the state, and it will have excellent anti-counterfeiting features."

People seem to understand, but they can't help but ask again: "But... what value can things made of paper have?"

The horse post holds a piece of gold: "Does this piece of gold have 'value'? It can neither be eaten, nor worn, nor can it cure diseases, nor can it teach and educate people."

Of course gold has practical value and is very high, but that is in the future industrial society.

For today's human beings, the main use of gold... is probably just pretending.

"Gold has no value. Its value comes from people's trust. As long as the same trust is obtained, paper money will have the same value as gold."

"I actually mentioned it to you in class. In the final analysis, the real wealth of society is 'productivity', which is the living space, natural resources and power to transform the world we have, not gold and silver or any form of money."

"When thinking about money, the only thing we can't stick to is money itself. What deserves our attention is the production and exchange of labor..."

"For example, the 'coinage cost' I just mentioned is essentially that we need to extract manpower and resources to do this work, and this will inevitably lead to a reduction in the manpower and resources engaged in industry and agriculture. The reduced labor output is the so-called coinage. The true identity of cost."

Ma Shao gradually began to give lectures, tirelessly.

The Donggu lumber field was gradually perfected, and the work of logging and gold panning was carried out in an orderly manner.

By August, it looked like a decent settlement, with walls and a few wooden houses.

This Apache westward team has a full 300 people.

For logging and gold mining, 300 people is obviously too much.

So after the initial construction here, Mashao left with more than 100 people and set off not far southwest. The goal was naturally Sacramento, dozens of kilometers away.

They rode horses for a distance of dozens of kilometers, and it took them four days to complete the journey.

The main reason is that the forest here is lush, there is no easy way to go, and sometimes wild animals come and go, so it is inevitable that there will be more delays on the road.

In addition they carried several carts of timber.

So it took four days for Ma Shao and other talents to arrive in Sacramento.

Or, the future Sacramento.

Of course, Ma Shao had never been to Sacramento in his previous life. In fact, he had almost never been abroad, but he was basically sure that this place was in the future city of Sacramento.

Because if he was asked to build a city nearby, this was his choice—the river split into three nearby, extending in three directions: east, west, and south.

He believes that the gold diggers who built Sacramento in history should also make similar choices as him.

"We're building a new city here." Horse Whistle pointed to an open space in front of him and said.

People then set up tents here, unloaded the wood, and began to build a new city, or a new village.

In the following period of time, in addition to the East Valley logging camp, the Apaches here were also busy, and even busier.

After all, the East Valley Logging Camp is just a logging camp, and what is about to be built here is a formal settlement, a city.

Every day, in addition to hunting and fishing nearby to gather food, the Apaches build houses and fences.

Fortunately, the materials for building the new city are abundant, especially wood, and the lumberyard will send a batch of wood every few days.

Compared with the sufficient supply of wood, the manpower is somewhat insufficient, mainly because there are relatively few professional construction craftsmen, and the construction efficiency of most people is not high.

A few days after starting to build the city.

A group of unexpected visitors visited the new city that has not yet been formed.

"Great Chief, there are some strangers outside." The soldier came to report, "They should be from a nearby clan."

"How many people are there?" Ma Shao was writing a book in the room and asked.

"About 20 people."

Ma Shao got up, called Nonsense and a few guards, and left the new city under construction.

Not long after leaving the city, they saw about twenty people not far away.

The twenty men were all riding horses, had long hair, and many were bare-chested with yellow skin, obviously Indians too.

"It should be Maidu people, or it may not be." Nonsense said, "There are quite a lot of differences between Maidu people, but in general there are still some things in common..."

After the two sides approached, a middle-aged man in his 40s and [-]s came out from the opposite side, with very big ears - the horse whistle could probably guess his name.

"We are Maidu people nearby. My name is Big Ear, and I am the chief of the Wild Duck Clan." The middle-aged man introduced himself, and the name was guessed by Ma Whistle.

"You... seem to be outsiders?" He said again.

Nonsense acted as an interpreter for both sides, translating the words into Apache to inform the sentry.

Although he often talks nonsense, he is quite competent as an interpreter, at least Ma Shao feels that his translation is about the same length as what Da Er said.

The horse whistle said: "Yes, we are from the East, and we are Apaches."

"Apache?" Da Er froze for a moment, then seemed to remember something, looked up and down the whistle for a while.

"Could it be that you are... the son of the sky?"

(End of this chapter)