CHAPTER 556: CHAPTER 284: THE CURRENCY ISSUE_2

"We can’t use the same price for 9mm bullets as for 7.62mm bullets, right?"

"We don’t need to."

Ji Xing’s lips curved into a slight smile.

She had already figured it out.

"All bullets have the same value, as long as we can confirm they’re produced by us."

"We can do some special designs on the bullets, like imprinting our logo on the primers."

"Regardless of the type of bullet, they all have the same price."

"Then, when bullets gradually start to appear in excess, causing supply to outstrip demand, they will notice that the currency attribute of these items gradually begins to surpass their practical attribute."

"They will complain that bullets are too heavy, complain about inconvenient handling and counting."

"At that point... that’s when we introduce the real currency."

"Bullet currency."

After speaking, Chen Jian couldn’t help but give Ji Xing a thumbs-up.

"Alright."

"This approach is completely feasible!"

"No need to wait—the underground production line in Mountain City is ready, just temporarily lacking raw materials."

"Let’s take out our current ammunition reserves for this round of trade, and we’ll send our currency out."

"Understood!"

Ji Xing nodded solemnly.

"I’ll handle this with Yu Qian."

"It’s not just about ’trade’, I have even better ideas."

...

Two hours later.

Pilgrim Refuge Camp.

Ji Xing stood with Yu Qian and several Volunteer Company soldiers at the entrance of this spontaneously formed camp, with several opened boxes of bullets behind them.

She looked around, every pilgrim’s eyes carried a trace of fear.

----Honestly, no one could look at this scene without feeling fear.

Armed soldiers with loaded guns, boxes full of bullets—they looked like they were about to enjoy target practice.

The pilgrims at the front even started trembling, but the strong belief and faith in their hearts still kept them standing firmly.

Ji Xing shook her head helplessly, frustrated with their incomprehension, just as she was about to speak, a figure ran over from afar.

"Wait!"

"Wait!"

Turning around, Ji Xing saw that it was Guo Xu.

His face was filled with disbelief, and a mixture of shock and fear.

"Ji Xing... Director Ji Xing, what are you doing??"

Guo Xu gasped, eager to speak in front of Ji Xing:

"They’re just pilgrims. If you don’t want them to stay, I can take them away!"

"I’ve talked with Director Yu Qian, we’ve negotiated well!"

"You need to give us time, even if they have to leave, we need time, right?"

"You can’t..."

"Hold on a moment."

Ji Xing raised her hand to interrupt Guo Xu and continued:

"You don’t really think I want to kill them, do you? Where did you hear such nonsensical news?"

After she finished speaking, Guo Xu was stunned.

"No?"

"A priest rushed to me to report, saying you brought people over... Damn it!"

At this moment, Guo Xu obviously understood what was going on.

He cursed with some anger, and then said to Ji Xing:

"Sorry, sorry!"

"I overthought... I’ll punish that priest when I go back."

"But seriously... what exactly are you about to do?"

Ji Xing pointed to the bullets behind her and replied:

"Isn’t it obvious?"

"Distributing bullets."

"Distribute bullets??"

Guo Xu was stunned.

"To them? Why?"

"Most of them don’t have automatic weapons, what use are these bullets to them?"

"Some of them don’t even have weapons!"

"It’s currency."

Ji Xing said straightforwardly:

"Since they’re here, we can’t just watch them die, right?"

"We need to give them something to eat and help them survive."

"But we can’t provide aid at the standard of relief to refugees—do we have to deliver food to their mouths every day?"

"So we’re using bullets as currency."

"We’ll give them some bullets, which can be exchanged for food."

"Of course, they can trade for other things too."

"Like weapons—though I’d advise you to manage them well; if any unnecessary bloodshed occurs here, our countermeasures will not be as simple as expulsion..."

"Understood, understood!"

Guo Xu relaxed completely.

Meanwhile, Yu Qian had begun distributing bullets to the pilgrims.

Upon receiving bullets, the pilgrims were almost all bewildered.

They couldn’t understand what this meant.

Isn’t it implying that we should use these bullets to solve our own problems?

But soon, Yu Qian explained everything.

At that moment, disagreements began to arise among the pilgrims.

Once they heard they could trade bullets for food, some directly threw the bullets to the ground, declaring their refusal to accept the Huaxia Army’s "heretical" charity.

But there were also some who secretly picked up the bullets from the ground and hid them in their pockets.

Yu Qian ignored this, and Ji Xing was even less inclined to pay any attention.

She didn’t care what these people thought; she only knew that once the bullets were distributed as currency, they would surely be retrieved through some means.

Guo Xu, however, remained somewhat skeptical.

"So, does this method of using bullets as currency... really work?"

"Most people will only hide the bullets and sell them to merchants for a higher price, right?"

Ji Xing responded with a mysterious smile.

Then she asked:

"Do you want to go to the market and see?"

"Definitely!"

Guo Xu nodded decisively, and the two headed toward the market, which was not very large but already crowded with merchants who had just arrived.

They were the first batch after the road opened and also the most daring.

And it was precisely this trait that made them more receptive to the "bullet currency."

Bullets circulated throughout the market, though initially, some merchants questioned the "value" of bullets.

Based on the current exchange ratio in Mountain City Market, the total value of bullets they received for purchasing their brought-in goods was actually higher than the total value of the goods.

They wondered if the Huaxia Army would ever reclaim the bullets.

Or were they just using this trade method to unload their stockpiled bullets en masse?

Of course, even if that were the case, they were still making a profit.

After all, bullets are rare items everywhere.

If they’re unsold here, they can simply take them back to Jinling to sell.

Thus, all merchants accepted the proposal to use bullets as currency.

But alone, this wasn’t enough to keep the market running.

At some point, a merchant discovered a new product from the Huaxia Army.

A multi-functional entrenching tool.

He loved it; he knew its value too well.

If taken to other parts of the world, the value of this shovel might rival the long knives used by Holy Blood.

Here, it required only.....5 bullets.

Or 4 pounds of pig iron.

He didn’t have pig iron, but he had plenty of bullets.

So, trading commenced immediately.

After the first transaction was completed, the second and third quickly followed.

The demand for entrenching tools soared instantly, and then suddenly, the price of entrenching tools began to rise.

No, this wasn’t a price adjustment made by the Huaxia Army but a result of merchants engaging in internal trades based on risk hedging after the first batch of entrenching tools sold out and the Huaxia Army announced that they wouldn’t produce more for a while.

This caused the price of entrenching tools to spike from 5 bullets to 15, and at this moment, everyone saw clearly one thing.

Bullets have value.

They can buy things.

The more chips you hold, the greater the benefits you can obtain.

Their pursuit of profit instantly exploded, and from this point on, no one thought about the real function of bullets anymore.

Because this was currency.

Guo Xu watched the whole process.

He took a deep breath and then slowly exhaled.

Next, he said:

"I’m thoroughly convinced by you guys."

"But speaking of which..."

"I also want those entrenching tools for our Church Protection Army."

"So... are there really none left?"