Chapter 171: The Tiger and the Snake Clash

The merchants were all pleasantly surprised.

Although this method increased transportation costs somewhat.

There was no doubt, however, that it made transactions much safer and more discreet!

Were those Feudatory Kings who dominated their respective regions the type to care about money?

Clearly not.

What they wanted was secrecy!

Liu Zheng continued with a smile: "Not only can you buy as much or as little as you like, but every time you pick up goods, you can mix and match whatever products you want!"

This statement once again made the entire room boil with excitement.

Indeed.

By relying on these Yinzhou Coins to make purchases—for instance, buying some fine wine, some Perfume, and some Soap all at once, mixing them together—wouldn't the level of discretion be further enhanced?

"Young Master, this is excellent!"

"We completely agree!"

"Young Master, then what about Loulan? How can we avoid the existence of Account Books there?"

Liu Zheng looked around the room: "What are you all here for? Aren't you the eyes and ears of the various Feudatory Kings? And beneath you, there are still more eyes and ears, and then the eyes and ears of those eyes and ears. Even if an Account Book truly exists, what use would it be? Don't make me teach you these things!"

The crowd burst into laughter, looking at each other with great joy.

The reason the Baiya Army was wiped out was, firstly, the infighting among various factions, coupled with the old Emperor's determination to seize the horse farms; but the most important reason was that the Baiya Army held too many secrets of the Feudatory Kings!

And this Yintan City could completely circumvent such things!

In other words, I, Yinzhou, do not need to control any of your secrets, and I, Liu Zheng, do not need to hold any leverage over you. We are simply engaging in fair trade, with real gold and silver.

Buying and selling.

It is just that simple!

Not only is it safe, but it also demonstrates the magnanimity of Liu Zheng and Yinzhou!

And what makes people feel even more at ease than with the Baiya Army is that this Yintan City is a matter for the entirety of Yinzhou. That is to say, this so-called Yinzhou Coin is not just supported by the Yinzhou Chamber of Commerce, but is also backed by the credit of the Yinzhou Prefecture!

Yinzhou's military strength is formidable, and its prestige is unrivaled.

Is their credit not enough?

A wealthy merchant named Ma said excitedly: "Good! Young Master Liu's move is truly ingenious and has indeed set a precedent in history. This Ma admires you!"

Other wealthy merchants echoed his sentiments.

Only then did Liu Zheng smile and say: "Good, since that is the case, let us not waste any more words. I believe that everyone here has brought real gold and silver. The Yinzhou Coin will be issued in three days! Rest assured, everyone, the Yinzhou Coin has our unique anti-counterfeiting mark, and no one else will ever be able to forge it."

This was exactly the problem everyone had been worrying about, and hearing Liu Zheng's words, they felt at ease.

"Everyone, please enjoy the food and entertainment for now!"

Liu Zheng laughed heartily.

The wealthy merchants had achieved their wishes and naturally laughed happily.

……

Meanwhile, over the next three days, Yintan City stepped up its printing efforts.

This time, Liu Zheng directly utilized an anti-counterfeiting mark from later generations: a watermark! Each Yinzhou Coin was made of two thin sheets of paper bonded together, with a unique Yinzhou watermark in the middle, which could be revealed under sunlight. The two sheets were then bonded under high pressure; this process was actually similar to the anti-counterfeiting of currency in later generations. Although not as refined, it was perfectly capable of achieving the goal of anti-counterfeiting in this era.

Furthermore, the paper used for the Yinzhou Coins was the specialized currency paper produced in Yintan City!

This paper had extremely high wear resistance and fold resistance, and it made a crisp sound when shaken. The main materials were cotton fiber and high-quality wood pulp. Liu Zheng knew that once currency was issued, it would be no simple matter. Therefore, this wood pulp was also selected from the wood pulp of the Populus euphratica, a specialty of Yinzhou, and then combined with manual engraving and Intaglio Printing...

In short.

Liu Zheng had incorporated anti-counterfeiting into almost every step of the process.

These Yinzhou Coins were also printed one by one in the printing workshop under his personal supervision.

"Young Master, you should really get some rest."

Du Biao felt pained just watching him.

Liu Zheng chuckled: "Don't worry about me. The Yinzhou Coin is of great importance; if any problems arise, the entire Yinzhou will suffer along with it. How can I not keep an eye on it myself?"

This was a legitimate currency!

If a problem occurred and inflation set in, the first to suffer would be Yinzhou and the people of Yinzhou! One could imagine that once the Yinzhou Coin was issued, this simple currency might even replace real gold and silver within the borders of Yinzhou...

Since it concerned the people's livelihood, Liu Zheng had to be cautious.

The craftsmen in this printing workshop were also people Liu Zheng trusted implicitly.

Moreover, Liu Zheng had specifically established the Yinzhou Bank—which was similar to the central bank of later generations. This was an inevitable institution, and later he would recruit high-level economic talent to staff it. Currency issuance and various complex tasks required professionals to handle them.

……

At this time.

The Prince of Wei was still on his way back to Qingzhou.

Inside the Horse Carriage.

The Prince of Wei was drinking wine while staring at a chessboard in front of him.

Wei Shao sat quietly opposite him.

The Prince of Wei watched for a while, then suddenly laughed heartily and used one hand to mess up the chessboard: "No more, no more, it's a mess, it's all a mess!"

Wei Shao gave a bitter smile: "I think it is the Prince of Wei's heart that is in a mess. These past few days, the Prince of Wei has often regretted his moves!"

The Prince of Wei never stood on ceremony and laughed heartily: "Am I not allowed to regret a few moves? Wei Shao, in the past, in Longyan, if I wanted to regret a move, I could do so as many times as I liked; who dared to say anything to me? But now, things are different..."

He sighed deeply.

Wei Shao felt a chill in his heart and said: "Qingzhou is still the head of all the Feudatory Kings in the world; the Prince of Wei is overthinking it!"

The Prince of Wei pointed at Wei Shao and laughed in spite of himself: "Look, look, even you are not telling me the truth anymore. The head of the Feudatory Kings? Heh, with this move by the old Emperor, years of our hard work have vanished into thin air. Who is the head of the Feudatory Kings now?"

Wei Shao was startled.

These words are heart-piercing.

But the King of Wei still happily said: "However, who says that I want this title of Head of the Feudatory Kings? This is excellent; it is just right for recuperating, without fighting or grabbing."

Wei Shao nodded.

Indeed, the title of Head of the Feudatory Kings is not a good thing. As everyone knows, if the Crown Prince succeeds to the throne, the first one to be dealt with is often you, the bird that sticks its head out.

The King of Wei continued: "However, things are not that simple. This time, the old Emperor has made a move, quite in the style of his younger days. I always suspect that the old fellow..."

He paused for a moment, then sighed leisurely: "... is showing signs of a final flare-up before the end."

"What?"

Wei Shao's expression changed drastically.

The King of Wei chuckled: "Everyone must die; does he really think he is the son of the Heavenly Emperor? If he were truly the Son of Heaven, why would there be a need to fight? When the Emperor was young, his killing record was quite substantial."

Wei Shao lowered his head, not daring to speak.

Everyone knows that the current Emperor, Xie Tianyao, was not the Crown Prince when he was young, but the Second Prince. Yet, he was humble and polite from a young age, and very favored.

Even the Crown Prince liked this younger brother very much.

Because at that time, Xie Tianyao was already forty years old, yet he did not even have an heir.

That is to say, before the age of forty, he had been lying low. Even at that time, to avoid the suspicions of the Emperor and the Crown Prince, he had taken a wife, yet he had never had any offspring! To have no offspring at forty, in this era, was a great lack of filial piety. Everyone thought it was Xie Tianyao's "problem," so there were those who despised him and those who pitied him. The Crown Prince even treated him with extra care, and even proposed to adopt one of his own children to his younger brother.

At that time, Xie Tianyao presented an appearance to others of being indifferent to the world, as if to say, "In any case, I have no offspring."

People in ancient times placed great importance on whether or not one had offspring.

Since there were no offspring, there was basically no motive to seize power—otherwise, once you seized this world, who would inherit it? Since you are all alone, you might as well be a carefree prince.

That is what everyone thought.

So no one was on guard against Xie Tianyao.

Who would have thought that just as the Crown Prince was about to ascend the throne, Xie Tianyao suddenly launched an attack, with a great army pressing on the city, staging a coup to kill his brother and seize power.

The world was in an uproar.

Only then did people realize that Xie Tianyao's modesty and lack of offspring were all an act! In the second year after he ascended the throne, the Crown Prince was born...

Everyone in the world had been deceived by Xie Tianyao.

Therefore, now that Xie Tianyao is over sixty years old, the Crown Prince is only in his early twenties; this is the reason.

Forbearance!

Ruthlessness!

This is everyone's assessment of Xie Tianyao. But in the eyes of many, this is what a person who truly accomplishes great things is like!

"Hahahaha, Emperor, oh Emperor, are you forcing me to have to choose one between your two sons?"

The King of Wei sighed.

In his view, the old Emperor's seizure of the horse farm this time was not just because he wanted to control the horse farm, but also a warning to the King of Wei.

People all over the world are choosing sides.

Why aren't you choosing?

Could it be that you have some ulterior motives?

The Emperor has never feared his offspring fighting among themselves; in any case, no matter how they fight, the world is still his family's. Whoever lives or dies, he will be dead first by then anyway, and he won't see it.

But what he fears most is a king of a different surname like the King of Wei...

Being a king of a different surname is one thing, and being the strongest feudatory king in the world is another.

But you insist on remaining neutral, not supporting the Crown Prince, and not supporting the Third Prince; what are you trying to do?

He is sounding an alarm for the King of Wei.

The King of Wei, however, smiled bitterly: "But these two sons of yours are truly a bit disappointing... How do you expect me to choose, how do you expect me to choose?"

Suddenly, he looked at Wei Shao: "Have the details on that Liu Zheng been investigated clearly?"

Wei Shao replied: "King of Wei, the clues are very clear. He is indeed the son of the wealthy merchant Liu Dahao, with no other suspicions."

The King of Wei frowned slightly: "Strange, strange... Could it be that the Emperor is really not worried about this kid rising up? Tolerating him this much?"

He thought for a while before laughing loudly: "I understand. The Emperor wants to arrange for this Yinzhou to oppose my Qingzhou?"

Wei Shao was startled into a cold sweat.

The King of Wei laughed heartily: "Good, good, good, a good Emperor indeed!"

"You still like playing chess so much... The tiger and the snake fight, while the dragon watches the game?"

"But can a mere Liu Zheng be used to checkmate me?"

A sharp light flashed in his eyes: "Then let's see whether you, Xie Tianyao, die first, or whether this snake, Liu Zheng, starts jumping around first!"