Chapter 55 Currency (ask for monthly ticket recommendation!)

September 1931, 9, Zhangjiacheng, Madagascar.

In the gun manufacturing plant under the Raytheon Military Factory, more than 30 people were queuing in front of an office, and two of them were communicating with each other.

"Brother Li, your salary this month can be 50 yuan, right?" said a young man in a blue worker's uniform.

The work uniforms of all employees of Meihua Company are the same except for the color and logo. The uniforms of Raytheon Military Factory have two crossed hammers on the chest, with the handles facing upwards and a lightning logo at the intersection.

"Well, that's about right. My basic salary is 20 yuan. This month I completed 5 more parts than last month, and my performance bonus is 31.5 yuan. The total should be 51.5 yuan." The employee called Brother Li answered happily.

He is a junior technician at the Thor Military Factory's Firearms Factory, named Li Fusheng. He calculates this data several times every day. One reason is that he is afraid of making mistakes, and the other is that he feels excited and satisfied when he sees so much money every day.

Ever since Maple Leaf Investment Bank opened a branch in Madagascar half a year ago, it has asked Chinese companies in the United States to relax some regulations and implement a wage system so that they can conduct business here that cannot be conducted in the United States.

Although according to the plan of the Meihua Company, this day will come sooner or later, the Meihua Company is not ready yet. They originally planned to issue currency and implement a partial market economy after the company has sufficient liquidity.

But Maple Leaf Bank is their largest creditor, and this is one of the conditions for Maple Leaf Bank to continue to provide loans to Meihua Company. Out of desperation, Meihua Company had to bring forward its plan.

"Brother Li, your skills in processing parts can now be promoted to an intermediate technician. At that time, your basic salary will be 25 yuan, and you can earn more than half of that for processing a part. Hey, when can I pass the assessment and become a junior technician?" The colleague behind him said with some envy.

According to the system of Meihua Company, each subordinate company will hold a professional title promotion evaluation every month, and every employee can sign up for it once a year. If they pass the evaluation, their professional title and rank can be promoted, as well as the most important salary increase, but the rank and title have nothing to do with the position.

For example, your job grade is level 3 and your job title is intermediate technician, but your position is just an ordinary employee and not a management level.

It doesn't matter if you fail the assessment. As long as you meet the annual work assessment requirements, you will be automatically promoted to a higher level every three years, and your base salary will also be increased accordingly. However, your job title and performance will not change. Once you reach a certain level, your promotion will be changed to one level every five years until it remains unchanged.

Of course, all the data need to be carefully calculated, just like people today are enslaved by all kinds of carefully calculated data, the monthly salary only guarantees that you will not starve to death, or various loan debts allow you to continue to work, etc.

The purpose of Meihua Company's approach is to improve employee loyalty and ensure that most of them have enough income to cope with the pressure of family life as they grow older, because most people are ordinary people and cannot increase their income through their own efforts.

Zhang Feng is not doing this for charity. Firstly, these people are his fellow tribesmen, and secondly, it is also for sustainable development.

This arrangement is designed to prevent adults from collapsing and young people from being forced to lie down. After all, to get natural promotion one needs to work hard in the company. Otherwise, if one slacks off every day, one will not be able to meet the standards for natural promotion.

These are decisions made by Zhang Feng based on the experience of later generations, but they are not immutable and the specific implementation needs to be adjusted according to actual conditions.

Some institutions should also be set up to supervise the execution of these companies. Now these companies are owned by Zhang Feng, so we can ensure their execution. The most important thing is to be as fair as possible.

When there are other companies under his sphere of influence in the future, he will need to supervise them to implement this policy, and it cannot be ignored. "Next, Li Fusheng, your salary is 56 yuan in total. You count it correctly. I will not be responsible after you leave." A female employee said to him.

This is the finance department of the Raytheon Military Firearms Factory, so the majority of employees are female, and women are more careful.

"The number is correct, but why is it 56.5? I calculated it myself and it should be 51.5." Li Fusheng said with some confusion after counting both sides. This was different from what he calculated.

"Oh, your salary should have been 51.5 yuan, but you ranked third in quantity and quality among the employees in your department, so you got an extra 5 yuan bonus. Since the amount is correct, sign your name." The female employee explained.

"Oh, thank you!" Li Fusheng was overjoyed when he heard that he had received a reward. He signed his name as soon as he received his salary.

Walking out of the factory gate, Li Fusheng was still counting the money in his hand over and over again, and he became happier and happier as he counted.

The banknotes issued by China Merchants Bank to its employees were jointly issued by Maple Leaf Bank and China Merchants Bank. Originally, Maple Leaf Bank planned to issue currency on its own, but how could China Merchants Bank give up such a big piece of fat? Moreover, these employees are all from its own company, although most of them have been mortgaged to Maple Leaf Bank.

But after working so hard to recruit and transport them from the Far East, how could I end up making things difficult for Maple Leaf Bank? That would be foolish of me.

However, issuing currency requires an anchor. The China Mei Company had no gold, silver, or other foreign exchange funds. Coupled with the coercion and inducement of Maple Leaf Bank, the two parties finally reached an agreement.

Maple Leaf Bank lowered the interest rate on its loans to China Merchants Bank and guaranteed to continue providing low-interest loans in the future, and obtained 49% of the right to issue banknotes. China Merchants Bank also immediately established China Merchants Bank, which has 51% of the right to issue banknotes.

Maple Leaf Bank purchased a printing machine from the United States, obtained printing technology from the Public Opinion Survey Office, and then transported it to Zhangjiacheng. After a month of preparation, it officially began issuing banknotes.

Maple Leaf Bank used its own 1 million US dollars of foreign exchange as reserves, and issued 10 billion Maple Dragon coins at a ratio of 1 to 10, that is, US dollar equals Maple Dragon coins. However, because the underground vault of the newly established China-America Bank was so clean that horses could run in it, it was temporarily unable to issue its own banknotes.

However, ChinaMei was unwilling to see all of its clients being taken away by Maple Leaf Bank, so it asked Maple Leaf Bank to temporarily place $10 million in ChinaMei's safe, in exchange for billion Maple Dragon Coins, interest-free.

After several rounds of discussions, the two banks finally decided that there would be four denominations of currency, namely 4 yuan, 100 yuan, 10 yuan and 1 cent.

At the beginning, the banknotes designed by Maple Leaf Bank had Zhang Feng’s portrait on the front and the bank’s logo, a fiery red maple leaf, on the back. The banknotes designed by China Merchants Bank also had Zhang Feng’s portrait on the front and the bank’s logo, a five-clawed golden dragon, with each claw holding a copper coin.

This was Lei Wanting's request, because in his heart Zhang Feng was the dragon. He believed that Zhang Feng would become the emperor sooner or later, and he himself would be the dragon's loyal minister. However, Zhang Feng did not have this idea.

Therefore, the new currency issued by Maple Leaf Bank and China Merchants Bank was named Maple Dragon, or Mapledragon in English.

(End of this chapter)