The Eagle of Eastern Europe

In his spare time, Peter would go to the market. It is a place where all kinds of information are exchanged.

The most popular products on the market are bread, vegetables and cloth, and some luxury goods are brought by foreign businessmen. The most pulled items are building materials, including stone, wood, and some copper and iron products.

Some people whispered among themselves as the propagandists read out the latest orders.

“There have been so many things being built in various places recently, and the price of stone has skyrocketed.”

"Yes, I can't buy it now even if I want to."

It appears that Peter's building plans have caused the prices of some goods to skyrocket. It has also attracted a lot of trade, and it can be said that tariffs have risen sharply this year.

Of course, food prices are still relatively stable. People's lives will not be affected for the time being.

In addition to commodity prices, there is another issue that worries people, and that is currency.

With various currencies in the hands of the people, it is very difficult to trade, so most transactions are still conducted in the form of barter.

Compared with the various Chinese dynasties that have implemented the same standard currency system for most of the time, Europe has always been in bulk. Countries and even nobles and bishops have the right to mint and issue their own currencies, although they claim that their Currency is made of pure gold and pure silver, but only fools would believe the words of these profit-minded nobles. God knows how much lead and copper they added to the silver coins. This not only led to the proliferation of currency types, but also disrupted the market. Bad currency is rampant, which is very unfriendly to trade activities.

In the Middle Ages, just calculating the fineness and value of various currencies was already a university question, let alone the exchange rates between several currencies, which took a long time to master. One British merchant in Flanders alone received more than 22 currencies.

In addition to the wide variety of currencies, the most troublesome thing is the exchange rate determination between currencies of various countries, because it will change all the time, and businessmen's income will become increasingly difficult to control due to changes in interest rates, because sometimes many currencies are still in circulation in the first half of the year. Well, the second half of the year became worthless due to war and other reasons.

It is also possible that a certain currency had good credit due to the insistence of its king a few years ago and was sought after by businessmen. But later, when the old king died and the new king succeeded to the throne, the currency will be issued indiscriminately, causing a credit collapse, and other countries will The merchants are no longer willing to accept the currency of the country's merchants, or it must be devalued to continue to circulate.

The British currency is the best example in this regard. The British currency has always had a reputation that is the envy of other countries in terms of exchange rates. The currency has a high gold and silver content. However, during the period of Henry VIII of the Tudor Dynasty, in order to satisfy his infamous The excessive issuance of currency due to obvious selfish desires made British businessmen very embarrassed in the international market.

Although Wallachia has begun to mint coins, their quality cannot be compared with foreign currencies. Therefore, minting new currency has become a new task.

Peter had the right to mint money, and he built a mint near Tulcea. Process the silver produced from local silver mines into sufficient currency.

Peter returned to the town hall, where people from the mint were waiting.

A model silver coin appeared in front of Peter, with a majestic lion on the front and Peter's flag on the back.

“How much silver does such a silver coin contain?”

"Sir, we mint coins according to Venetian currency standards. The silver content accounts for 90%, and the rest is replaced by lead or copper."

With such a silver content, it is already a real silver coin. It would replace those cumbersome currencies and become the currency of Wallachia and Moldova.

In addition to silver coins, the Mint also struck copper coins. Excluding the price ratio and fineness exchange issues of gold, silver, and copper, one silver coin can be exchanged for 20 copper coins.

"Sir, what is the name of the new coin?" asked the attendant on the side.

Peter said without thinking.

"Lei and Barney, just call them these two names."

Lei means lion and Barney means money. This meaning is straightforward enough.

“Let the mint operate at full capacity, and the currency will still be used in large quantities.”

"Follow your orders"

Peter's idea is very obvious, which is to unify the domestic currency. As for why there are no gold coins, it’s because they are not needed yet. Dukat and Florin are enough for the time being.

Large quantities of silver ore and copper ore were sent to the mint, where they were processed into leu and barney. Then it flows into the hands of the people through various channels.

At the same time, in Moldova and Dobroga, street criers read out the orders of the lords and governors.

The people were all dubious, fearing that this was some kind of trick. Let the lords take away the wealth they managed to accumulate.

This is not going to work. If the people don’t accept the new currency, then nothing else will be possible. To this end, Peter asked the institution he had established to exchange half of its reserves for lei. At the same time, let Constanta, Tulcea and other port areas take the lead in using Leu and Bani.

Constanta was the first to accept lei and bani, as local chambers of commerce began to pay lei and currency exchange offices began to offer lei for exchange.

"Lei, it looks like a big portion." A businessman said after the exchange.

"Of course, this is entirely made according to the composition of Venetian silver coins. Even though the source of silver is in short supply, our benevolent lord still created a currency of sufficient value."

The valuable lei quickly gained support from businessmen, and lei became the main currency in Dobroga. Merchants and ordinary people used lei and bani in large quantities. This made the mint a little busy for a while. In order to mint enough currency, the mining of silver mines also increased.

There is a shortage of enough craftsmen in all walks of life, and this also allows some people abroad to see opportunities. Some craftsmen from the Grand Duchy of Suzdal and the Golden Horde came to Moldova together with the people of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.

At this time, the Golden Horde was about to perish, and the battle between Tokhtamysh and Timur turned the entire middle and lower reaches of the Volga River upside down. Those controlled craftsmen naturally fled westward, and Moldova was one of their targets.

Peter was like Grand Prince Dmitry of Moscow, gathering his strength and then delivering the killing blow when necessary.