Chapter 415

The Great King's patrol route was plotted on the map; along the way he scattered silver in the densely farmed areas, marching at a steady pace—otherwise his attendants wouldn't have suffered so much.

The Great King didn't want that either, but the farming season waits for no one. If the crops wither and die, the Northern Border—where one harvest a year is the norm—would have wasted this year's effort.

When they reached the border of Yizhou, Zhu Ti returned.

The Great King furtively summoned the Chief Steward and asked for details about the southern situation; this time, all the proceeds from the Pagoda Pavilion auction were taken south to be spent.

"That also counts as spent, but southern grain is hard to buy—these troubled times see the aristocracy hoarding it. We traded silver together with medicinal herbs for grain; silver alone can't buy bulk grain. Right now the most urgent needs are grain and medicinal herbs."

The Great King let out a loud sigh, "Looks like we still have to rely on Elder Bai."

"Your return to Youzhou puts my mind at ease; if anything comes up, just call me." After asking what he wanted to know, the Great King went back to sleep.

"Hold on! Were the Intelligence Bureau's matters handled proactively while I was away south?"

Great King: ……

"I've looked at the major matters before leaving Youzhou; as for…… which official married a colleague's daughter, which minister splurged huge sums on Zhuque Avenue—these petty trifles, what could I do after seeing them?" The Great King made excuses.

The Intelligence Bureau can gather a thick stack of messages in three days; after sorting, the Great King only looks at the most important items he picks out, while the rest stay neatly stacked in place.

"Marrying a colleague's daughter shows they're on the same boat; if there's huge spending and they aren't filthy rich at home, then they must have obtained money of unknown origin—the Northern Border lacks such means, so it must be the south providing it. Sorting can be delegated, and messages can be read by others; when I'm not around, the lord had best know these things himself."

Great King: "…… I'm still young."

Zhu Ti: "And then?"

The Great King, better than nothing, covered his little purse, then dramatically pulled out his ingot card: "Lend you this for a bit—go buy a green skirt!"

"That's about right!"

"Wait! If you have time, open the money office—we've minted plenty of copper coins now; the news can be announced."

Zhu Ti waved his hand, got what he wanted, and vanished in a swoosh.

The impoverished Great King sighed deeply behind him—gathering silver is really hard!

"Time is money—whoever discovered that is absolutely right!"

Once back, the king began his bedtime wish: "I hope Mengmeng can assign another errand‑running servant; we're short‑staffed, please!" That way he could station one in Youzhou, take another with him when he goes out, and use them as a search engine when needed.

White Ze glanced at the small night lamp with a mechanical watch dial on his bedside, then earnestly advised: "It's only this early and you're already asleep? With the time you spend making wishes, couldn't you read a bit more yourself?"

Hearing this, the king felt anguished: "After being out in the sun all day, I've read so many characters my head spins; I haven't even had time to write the articles the teacher left! Besides, I'm still growing—I can't stay up late. Look, today I'm so exhausted I didn't even set up my stall. What good would it do you if I grew up to be a little dwarf?"

White Ze lay back down and amended: "Then hurry up and sleep; kicking below the knees in a fight is pointless anyway."

In the next second the king jumped up from the bed, determined to give White Ze a lesson on the difference between humans and divine beasts; his age already makes him a tall fellow among humans.

White Ze needed do nothing but look at him with a sympathetic expression, and the king's defenses crumbled.

He went to the warehouse, rummaged through it, angrily chugged two bottles of milk, and happily wound up making two nighttime bathroom trips.

The next day, still dark, they had to rise again, for the farther west they went the hotter it became, making both men and horses suffer; they needed to press on before sunrise. The king felt light‑headed on his walk this morning, and his paternal cousin spotted it at once, asking, "Your Majesty, what's wrong? Didn't you sleep well, or are you suffering from heatstroke?"

White Ze: "Maybe it's just milk‑induced dizziness."

The king: …

Wei Shen: "…Can you translate it into something I can understand?"

The next day, the Youzhou Northern Border Prince's Residence issued a major announcement, effective immediately reclaiming the Northern Border's minting authority.

Thereafter, the minting right for the Northern Border's official currency was formally reclaimed, and the "Northern Border Treasure" was officially issued to replace the former Da Jin copper coins, preventing inferior currency from flooding and stabilizing the Northern Border's finances.

A thunderbolt struck the flat ground, radiating outward from Youzhou as the center.

That day the Northern Border's official money houses announced they were open for business; the public could exchange their old Da Jin copper coins at the official offices on a one‑to‑one basis, with a transition period of half a month.

In other words, people had only half a month to exchange their copper coins for the new Northern Border currency; after that the exchange service would stop. During the period all shops inside the border could still trade normally, but after the half month the old copper coins would become invalid and unusable in the Northern Border.

The populace exploded in frenzy, rushing to the three newly announced money houses to queue for the new copper coins, leaving those who had come from Da Jin to the Northern Border to exchange small change bewildered—were they now unemployed? Their small‑change business was no longer lucrative.

Some people, anxious about the time limit, feared new complications might arise; those who owned fields took their coins directly to the Shenghao market to exchange for cloth and farming tools, since hoarding goods was just as good.

City dwellers without land began hoarding grain, and soon long queues formed in front of the grain stores.

The chief steward was delighted; he hadn't expected an extra surprise—had it actually stimulated consumption?

For a time, the consumption market in Youzhou boiled hot.

The chief steward didn't hold onto the old coins overnight; whatever amount he received each day he promptly turned over to the south, exchanging it for cloth, grain, and any usable materials to ship back to the homeland. She didn't believe Baili Jin would dare to follow suit and announce his own abolition and re‑minting—the time difference made it certain.

She didn't know that Baili Jin was currently too preoccupied to attend to this matter.

On that day Youzhou had three official money houses in operation; on the third day the official money houses of Yizhou and Bingzhou also began operating one after another, starting the currency exchange. Liangzhou was the slowest, as the Tang prefect was still escorting the Western Regions envoy home and also had to see the tribute duty carried out by the neighbors, and was now wrangling over it.