When the Whitebeard Pirates arrived at Jaya Island, they were immediately awed by it.
As mentioned before, Jaya Island offered merchants the most precious thing in the world: safety.
After this stable security had lasted for a full three years, Jaya Island, located in the first half of the Grand Line, became the center of commercial exchange between the Grand Line and the Four Seas. Vast numbers of merchants gathered here to trade and deal in bulk commodities.
The Revolutionary Army established a new order for these merchants: the Credit System.
The Revolutionary Army issued them cards and registered them every time they entered. Completing a small transaction earned one Credit Point, a medium-sized transaction earned ten Credit Points, and a large transaction earned one hundred Credit Points.
The higher a user's credit score, the better treatment they received. More importantly, this was credit officially verified by the Revolutionary Army. It could directly serve as a symbol of one's identity and status, used as [reputation] to pay others.
At first, the merchants fiercely resisted this credit review system. It meant that the authorities would be present for every one of their transactions and levy taxes based on the type of goods. It meant none of their transactions could be concealed from the Revolutionary Army, which consequently gained a great deal of money and funding.
But they soon discovered the benefits of the Credit System. Merchants were the most quick-witted people on the planet, the best at exploiting loopholes, yet they were also extraordinarily hypocritical. It was fine for me to exploit loopholes and make money off you, but I could not leave any loopholes for you to exploit.
So the merchants began competing against one another.
Competing harder, competing desperately, competing without mercy.
Those who won became capitalists. They gained