With apprehension and curiosity, Maggie, led by Rebecca, came to the large building called "Magic Technology Research Institute".
It is said that this is the highest research center of Cecil magic technology.
It is said that more than half of those inconceivable magical devices that can exert great power and function, which were called "perfect runes that luck cannot explain" by the members of the Mage Association of the former capital, were born in this research center and in its attached facilities.
Maggie visited the southern border with Victoria, but at that time she did not have the opportunity to visit this temple of technology, but today she was invited here and became a member of a great project, which has to be said to be a kind of The wonderful arrangement of fate, driven by strong curiosity, Maggie couldn't help but look at everything in sight: everything here was very new to her.
The Institute of Magical Technology is not as magnificent and luxuriously decorated as the Royal Capital Mage Association she is familiar with (that is the closest facility she can think of to the temple in front of her in nature), but this building is several floors high. The large-scale building has its own unique beauty and solemnity. It consists of a main building and three auxiliary buildings. The foundation of the main building is supported by neatly arranged columns, while the top of the auxiliary buildings has three concise and powerful words:
Curious; rigorous; persistent.
This may explain part of the attitude of Cecil scholars towards research.
"These three words were proposed by Master Kamel. It is said that they were the rules that the scholars of the Gondor Empire abided by. The ancestors thought it made sense, so we let us hang these three words on the building of the research institute. On the top," Rebecca said happily beside her, "stay curious about the world, and discover the unknown while being curious; be rigorous in the face of the unknown, and find the direction of research through rigor; persevere in research, and verify the results through persistence... "
The princess of the empire spoke briskly and always had a smile on her face. She finally had the opportunity to abandon those court dresses that looked gorgeous but were inconvenient to move, and changed into simple dresses that were easy to move. Maggie found that she was leaving After Silver Fort came to this research facility, he really became happy.
This "Her Royal Highness" belongs here.
With a smile on her face, Maggie followed the chattering Rebecca, followed a group of men and women who worked in the research institute, and walked into the mysterious building.
Stepping into the gate, the first thing that catches the eye is a spacious and bright hall, illuminated by magic spar lamps, corridors and stairs leading to different places of the institute, and the most eye-catching one in the hall is , is a statue in the center.
That is not any hero or god that Maggie is familiar with, nor is it the current emperor of the Cecil Empire. Girls, standing in the center of this temple of knowledge and technology, illuminated by a beam of special magic spar lights, the man's gaze is gentle and calm, as if watching everyone who walks in here, and everyone who enters The magicians or rune masters of the research institute will also come to the statue first, bow deeply before leaving.
Maggie looked at the statue in surprise, and couldn't help asking: "Who are they?"
"It's the founder of modern magic technology and his daughter Annie." Rebecca restrained all her laughter, and said with a serious expression that Maggie saw for the first time, and then she also came to the statue, feeling deeply bowed respectfully.
Maggie was a little at a loss, but she also saluted, and then she saw the words on the pedestal 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 he may have stayed in the Wangdu Mage Association," Rebecca said regretfully. His name... He may just be an assistant of a great magician, or his name may have been completely erased by the association. You know, in the circle of traditional mages, breaking away from one's own heritage is a very serious matter, and the name will be removed from all files However, nearly a quarter of Saint Sunil’s mages died in the battle, and perhaps the last person who knew his real name also died on the city wall.”
Maggie didn't know what to say for a while, but Rebecca smiled again, she smiled brightly, facing the man in the statue: "But it doesn't matter, his creation has not been forgotten, as long as we continue to work hard , 'Magic Web' will be remembered by everyone."
Maggie was stunned, but deep in her eyes she was thoughtful, while Rebecca had already started to walk towards the stairs not far away: "Come on, come on, I have to introduce you to a lot of people..."
…
In the city center, on the square in front of the "Lord's Mansion", a team of sentries guarded the avenue leading to the mansion, and several workers were busy at the checkpoint in front of the intersection of the avenue.
With the help of a hoist, a short-bodied worker reached the top of the metal lamppost hanging the road sign. With the help of the magic terminal, he removed a few rivets that fixed the sign. After some shaking, he took off the one that said: The metal sign of "Lord Cecil's Mansion" was passed to the colleague next to him.
A new sign was brought in and mounted on the steel frame at the side of the lamppost, with a brand new word: Palace of Cecil.
Beside the lamp post hanging the road sign, a magician looked up at the words on the sign, couldn't help but shook his head and said, "This is really a concise and clear name..."
"Your Majesty always likes to be concise and clear when naming names. 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 broadcasting tower," said another fellow magician. The instructor laughed, "Anyway, I'm used to it."
"Then you explain what the electricity in the 'magic capacitor' means..."
"This is your fault!!"
…
"Ancestor, the changes to the new road signs and maps have been completed," Hetty reported to Gao Wenhui in the study, "The news about the renaming of Cecil Lord's Mansion as 'Cecil Palace' will appear in the near future. newspapers and radio programs."
"That's good," Gao Wen exhaled, smiled and shook his head again, "It's a bit embarrassing to say, I almost forgot this detail before... I didn't remember this mansion until I saw the street sign of 'Lord's Mansion' The name must be changed, but fortunately the preparatory committee of the Government Affairs Office still remembers this matter."
"Considering all the details is the basic work of the preparatory committee, and your precious energy is to be put on bigger things," Hetty said seriously, "but then again...'Cecil Palace' this The name is really quite unique."
Gawain looked at Hetty dumbfounded.
This "Grand Consul" has always been a calm and serious person, but occasionally he will become a junior who opens up his heart to his ancestors and amuses him when there are no outsiders. In addition to using various tricks to cheat the holidays, Looking for opportunities to complain about some new terms Gao Wen created and memes that no one can understand is also one of her few hobbies. Gao Wen is quite familiar with this, 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 and call it 'New Silver Fort'." He shook his head with a smile, "The name is just a The code name is enough for people to understand what it means at once, even if it sounds nothing special at first glance, after a few years everyone will be familiar with it and take it for granted."
"Actually, there is nothing wrong with the Cecil Palace," Hetty's lips curled up slightly, "but Gordon raised one point during the meeting the day before yesterday—does this 'palace' need to be expanded, or simply rebuilt? Although it is still very It is enough, but as a palace, its scale is really a bit out of proportion... "
Gao Wen shook his head: "No need, you also said that this mansion is quite adequate and there is no need to expand it. Its scale is already very large in my opinion, and it occupies no less than a small castle in terms of area alone. It’s still very new, and it’s a waste of precious financial, material and manpower to rebuild it just for the sake of style—there are so many cities and roads in the Holy Spirit Plain that haven’t been rebuilt yet.”
"Sure enough, you would 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 a functional facility for the royal family to work and run some government functions. Symbols of national strength and majesty, you also have to think about that."
This time Gao Wen thought about it carefully, and slowly said while thinking: "What you said is also reasonable. With the expansion of the Supreme Government Office and the reorganization of the organization that manages the operation of the empire, some offices will be transferred here... But this is not something that will be implemented immediately. Even if it is implemented, it will not immediately exceed the capacity of this mansion. The expansion can be planned in advance, but the specific implementation should wait, at least until we don’t have to worry about it anymore Let’s talk about the food problem for so many people in the Holy Spirit Plain.”
Hetty lowered her head: "Yes, I understand, ancestor."
Gao Wen hummed, and then said: "How is the 'new currency promotion' led by Padrik going?"
"The pilots in several places have been relatively smooth. Relying on the call of the government affairs department and your own prestige, the public can accept the proper use of 'paper money' as a voucher for daily transactions, but most people have not completely abandoned the traditional Metal currency, but paper money is only regarded 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'... ”
Gao Wen raised his eyebrows: "Contract certificate?"
"Yes, like a certificate of borrowing or a certificate of exchange for gold and silver, they think that paper money is proof of wealth issued by the 'bank', and each paper money is an IOU, which can buy things because the IOU can eventually To exchange gold and silver from the bank... ”
Hearing Hetty's words, Gawain couldn't help but sigh slightly: "... In the end, we are still facing this stage."
"Does 'this stage' refer to the substitute currency?" Hetty asked curiously, "Is there any problem with it?"
"That's right, it's surrogate currency, the plan Patrick 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 in the bank's reserves... Simple and clear currency rules, but also simple It has obvious shortcomings," Gao Wen explained earnestly to the curious Heidi, "its biggest hidden danger is that factories will multiply the total wealth of society, but the mining and production speed of gold and silver is limited, There will also be a limited amount of money in circulation, and the scale of investment and trade will be 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 currency issued intensifies to a certain extent, there may be two consequences, either the 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 issue tokens of debt nature, no matter what form these debts take—whether they are special currencies or bonds, they will cause the value of currency in circulation in society to far exceed the value of precious metals in reserve.
"Once this situation starts, it will not stop. After it has deteriorated to a certain extent, as long as there is a little turmoil in the society and the people want to exchange their substitute currencies for gold and silver, our economy will face a disaster... because the entire bank The gold and silver reserves of the system have long been unable to catch up with the total value of wealth produced by industry, let alone the amount of banknotes in the hands of the people, and cannot be redeemed for modern currency, and the collapse of even a powerful empire will only happen overnight."
Gao Wen's explanation was as simple and understandable as possible, and Hetty is not 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 turned ugly. : She realized that this was an almost unsolvable trap.
As long as the population is increasing and people's living needs are increasing, the society must continue to develop, and as long as the factories are in operation, the speed of social development will definitely far exceed the growth rate of precious metals such as gold and silver, which can be directly exchanged for a fixed amount of gold and silver. "Paper money" will definitely not keep up with the pace of social wealth increase.
As long as this contradiction emerges and accumulates to a certain stage, one must choose between stagnation-regression and excessive currency issuance.
Whichever one you choose, it means disaster.
However, if currency reform is not implemented at all... it will also face the trap of stagnant development. In this world that is not peaceful and stable, this is also a disaster.
"Padrik looked frowning when he reported these things to me," Hetty frowned, and said slowly, "He said that he vaguely felt that there was a fatal problem when he deduced the currency circulation, but He can't find it... Could it be this trap that he sensed?"
"He actually noticed it?" Gao Wen opened his eyes wide in astonishment, but quickly returned to calm and natural, "It's also... these laws are summed up by people..."
"This 'trap' is terrible," Hetty said with lingering fear, "Is there no way to solve it?"
"There is another form of currency... but it's really hard to say which one is worse," Gao Wen frowned, shaking his head slowly, "but few things in this world are perfect, especially man-made things. Anyway , It is still in the stage of data collection and social verification, let Padrik complete the pilot acceptance of this phase first, and at the same time wait for Daniel to collect further information on Typhon currency reform, and we will discuss it after all the information is collected What's next."
After the battle of the Longfeng Defense Line, Gao Wen now has no more psychological burden on crossing the river by feeling the Typhon. It is said that there has entered the application stage of banknotes, and the precious social experiment data cannot be missed.