How much is a "little yellow croaker" worth during the Republic of China? I guess you can’t even afford a small yellow croaker!
Gold is a good thing, especially in times of trouble. It is basically a guarantee of life and a comeback. The most recent troubled times to us are probably the Republic of China period. At that time, we all knew that the common currency during the Republic of China was silver dollars, Yuan Datou. Of course, these were all ordinary circulating items. There is also a relatively rare species, which is yellow croaker. That is gold. Why is it called yellow croaker?
That's because the gold at that time was no longer cast in the form of gold ingots in ancient times, but was cast into a flat rectangular parallelepiped for easy portability. Because it looks more like a fish and is gold, it is called yellow croaker.
Why are gold bars called yellow croaker? There is a folk joke related to Dai Li. It is said that a fellow countryman wanted to give Dai Li a gift. Dai Li not only refused to give gold bars as a gift, but was also scolded by Dai Li, saying He ignored the national economy and the people's livelihood and had poor moral standards. The fellow countryman had no choice but to inquire about Dai Li's preferences. Later he learned that the person Dai Li loved was not a "big yellow croaker" but a real wild big yellow croaker. When Dai Li's fellow villagers bought a large yellow croaker to honor Dai Li, they got what they wanted.
When gold-bar yellow croakers were popular, a small yellow croaker was worth about 30 silver dollars. Before the founding of the People's Republic of China, you could buy a small courtyard in Nancheng, Beijing, and a large yellow croaker for 50 taels. , you can achieve this small goal of buying a house in Beijing.
The "big yellow croaker" was actually a common specification at that time. However, during the war-torn times of the Republic of China, apart from the dignitaries who wanted to store gold bars to preserve their value, ordinary people naturally had this idea as well. However, the "big yellow croaker" was too expensive to buy. Sorry. As a result, some merchants converted gold bars into gold bars of other specifications, and "small yellow croaker" became the most popular gold bar specification after "large yellow croaker".
According to the old system of "half a catty and eight taels", a "big yellow croaker" weighed ten taels, but now one catty weighs sixteen taels in the past, which is 500g. Then the conversion of a "large yellow croaker" is about 312.5g, while the small yellow croaker is about 31g. Therefore, based on the current price of 270 yuan per gram of gold, a "large yellow croaker" is worth about 84,000 yuan, and a "small yellow croaker" is also worth more than 8,000 yuan! This shows how wealthy it was to own a "big yellow croaker" at that time.
In the late period of the Anti-Japanese War, gold became more and more expensive, and the exchange rate for silver dollars became larger and larger. Calculated based on the old system of 1 catty and 16 taels, 1 tael = 500/16 = 31.25 grams. Therefore, the equivalent weight of a "big yellow croaker" gold bar today is 312.5 grams, and the equivalent weight of a "small yellow croaker" gold bar today is 31.25 grams. Before 1949, you could buy a small courtyard house in Beijing for 100 yuan (three small yellow croakers). At that time, the total monthly living expenses of a well-off family was only 15 silver dollars. At that time, even the rich rarely used gold bars to spend money. Gold bars were mainly stored as hard currency and converted into silver dollars, a currency that maintained their value when spent.