Chapter 172: Hesitation

The Prince of Wei laughed so hard he fell backward, his spirit soaring to the heavens.

Wei Shao, however, listened with cold sweat trickling down his back.

He had not expected that the matter of the Baiya Army would actually involve so many hidden struggles and open conflicts.

But, hearing the Prince of Wei speak this way, his own spirit also jolted to attention.

And why wouldn't it?

Although this Longyan Dynasty was filled with Feudatory Kings—according to statistics, there were over forty of them just in various regions—they controlled seventy provinces of the Longyan Dynasty. Among them, those as powerful as the Prince of Wei, besides Qingzhou, also held Ji Province and Yong Province, three great provinces with vast territories and formidable military strength. Some of the weaker ones only had the scale of a second-tier province, yet they still held the titles of princes and marquises.

The heroes of the world were countless.

But over this past year, Yinzhou had suddenly risen to prominence, becoming famous throughout the world, and the name of Prefect Liu was known to every passerby. Although Prefect Liu currently only occupied three second-tier provinces, he was already able to stand on equal footing with the Liangzhou Prefecture. Now that this Baiya Army had been disbanded, the Baiya Prefecture side would likely be unable to recover for several years, which gave Yinzhou even more room for development.

Given time.

It was feared that this Liu Family father and son would completely cease to hold the Liangzhou Prefecture in their eyes.

However...

Wei Shao still smiled bitterly: "The Prince of Wei must be overthinking. A mere Yinzhou, a tiny place with a population of no more than a million, how could it be mentioned in the same breath as the Prince of Wei's three provinces with their ten million people?"

The Prince of Wei, however, smiled and shook his head: "Wei Shao, can you answer this Mandarin a question?"

"The Prince of Wei, please ask!"

"How many years has it been since our Longyan Dynasty expanded its territory?"

Wei Shao was shaken to his core, his complexion changing drastically: "The Prince of Wei, you mean..."

The Prince of Wei took a deep breath: "This Prefect Liu, his brilliance lies in the fact that, clearly possessing the strength to shake Chen Ping, he is not in a hurry to plot against Liangzhou, but instead heads west out of Loulan! Tell me, how can one not find this pleasing? Since the Emperor ascended the throne, for nearly thirty years, let alone expanding territory, even those vassal states that used to come to pay tribute have all become fickle. When has the majesty of our Celestial Empire ever been trampled upon like this? Yet, surrounded by strong enemies, the Longyan Dynasty lacks the strength to do more."

"Now, a Prefect Liu has emerged; he treads upon Loulan, opens the Silk Road..."

"If this Mandarin has guessed correctly..."

The Prince of Wei rubbed his temples, appearing slightly weary, and sighed: "Given the Emperor's character, how could a mere empty title of Hanlin Academy Reader satisfy the Emperor's appetite?"

"He will certainly give this Prefect Liu another push!"

"Using barbarians to control barbarians, the art of checks and balances..."

"The Emperor is most adept at this."

Inside the horse carriage.

It suddenly became quiet.

Liu Zheng naturally did not know about this speculation inside the Prince of Wei's carriage.

Because these past few days, he had been buried in the printing workshop; in three days, rushing and hurrying, he finally finished ten million gold worth of Yinzhou Coin!

"Wow, so beautiful!"

"This..."

"Was this drawn?"

When the first batch of Yinzhou Coin was finished, everyone was stunned.

Hu Xi'er even picked one up, held it under the sun, and then cheered with joy: "Look, look! It really has our Yinzhou watermark!"

The crowd laughed heartily, following up with exclamations of wonder.

Only then did Liu Zheng heave a sigh of relief, looking at Zheng Yue Ru beside him and smiling: "The matter of Yinzhou Coin is of great importance; in the future, only you may manage it, and no one else is permitted to interfere!"

Zheng Yue Ru's delicate body trembled, and she lowered her head happily to agree.

Others were filled with envy and one after another congratulated Zheng Yue Ru.

Everyone knew just how important the matter of Yinzhou Coin was. That Liu Zheng could entrust this matter to her showed his trust in her.

In fact, Zheng Yue Ru had indeed never worried about money ever since.

It could be said that she had slowly elevated herself from a merchant woman while following Liu Zheng; now she was not only the Chief Manager of the Yinzhou Trading House but also the only female general in Yinzhou.

Whether in vision or stature, she had already reached a certain level.

Liu Zheng was also very satisfied with Zheng Yue Ru; she was a girl with great ambition, so whenever he had free time, he would teach her some knowledge and theories that allowed her to "stand on the shoulders of giants." Zheng Yue Ru digested and absorbed them very quickly.

"Only, Brother Liu, issuing so much this time, I fear..."

Zheng Yue Ru had some misgivings.

Liu Zheng chuckled: "If you're going to play, play big; otherwise, what's the point? Let's go, go over and take a look, and you'll understand!"

At this time, those representatives of the Feudatory Kings had long been impatient, waiting in the reception hall of Yintan City.

Watching Liu Zheng bring people in, carrying box after box, the eyes of these people began to heat up.

Liu Zheng chuckled: "Everyone, logically speaking, today is the day for issuing Yinzhou Coin; we should have chosen an auspicious day, beaten drums and gongs, and set off firecrackers, but I see everyone is impatient, so let's keep everything simple."

The crowd laughed heartily, one after another indicating they did not mind.

That wealthy merchant Lao Ma asked: "Prefect Liu, I wonder how this Yinzhou Coin is exchanged? Hahahaha, don't let it be that it's not enough for me alone to eat!"

The crowd clamored one after another.

Who didn't know that this Lao Ma, following the Prince of Shu, was the wealthiest in the world, occupying the number one granary under heaven; it would be strange if he weren't rich.

"Lao Ma, don't speak so definitively; how is it that our Prince of Chu is inferior to your Prince of Shu?"

A wealthy merchant surnamed Lin sneered coldly.

Suddenly, the atmosphere at the scene became lively. It was clear that as the Great Trend of the world became increasingly unstable, these Feudatory Kings still had a very strong desire for military preparedness.

Liu Zheng said: "Everyone, stop arguing. This time, ten million Yinzhou Coin are being issued, and each unit of Yinzhou Coin exchanges for one gold! That is to say, a total of ten million gold!"

The clamor of the full hall came to an abrupt halt.

Everyone was shocked.

Some people stood up directly, their expressions turning sour.

If it weren't for the fact that this Prefect Liu had always had a good reputation, these people would have long since started cursing.

"Viscount Liu, this, this, is this really two hundred million in silver?"

Two hundred million!

Everyone looked at one another, falling into deep thought.

Liu Zheng chuckled: "What, does everyone think my Yintan City isn't worth this two hundred million in silver?"

He knew what these people were worried about.

Any institution that issues currency must have gold reserves or credit backing.

You have to give these people a sense of security before they are willing to give you their real gold and silver.

Liu Zheng never felt that his Yintan City was worth less than two hundred million!

Of course.

He thought what he thought.

Others did not think so.

There had never been any bank that started off issuing Silver Notes with such a huge appetite.

These shrewd people looked at each other in dismay. Why did it feel like Prefect Liu had set a trap for them to walk into? If he made a haul and ran off with the money, what then?

An institution issuing currency must have sufficient ability to resist risk.

Although Yinzhou was developing well now, in their understanding, it had not yet reached a scale of two hundred million.

In this era, people did not yet place such high value on the scarcity of a concept.

Therefore, in an instant, these people all felt that this Prefect Liu was a bit unreliable.

"This..."

"Prefect Liu, this is no small sum!"

"Before we came, we didn't know..."

Liu Zheng smiled slightly and said nothing.

He had long known that these people would have this reaction.