Chapter 175: The Situation Is Getting Out of Control

At the gate of Yangzhou City.

Several guards were inspecting the merchants coming and going.

"Oh my, Lao Tan, why are you so fast this time? You just finished a trip, and here you are again after only a few days?"

Leading a horse caravan was a merchant named Lao Tan. This man traveled between Jinghua and Liangzhou year-round, making a fortune, and he was quite famous here in Yangzhou as well.

Lao Tan laughed heartily: "Who can help it when our Drunken Yinzhou is so delicious! You two soldiers don't know, but in Jinghua, Drunken Yinzhou has become an indispensable fine wine for the banquets of Nobles. Look, I just delivered two carts over, and they were snapped up!"

"Alright, alright, go on in!"

The two guards laughed along and waved their hands.

Lao Tan hurriedly thanked them and led his caravan of gold and silver, walking along with a beaming face, already calculating in his heart how much silver he could earn from this trading trip.

Who would have thought that just as he was about to rest in Yangzhou, he would suddenly hear a piece of news.

"Yinzhou Coin?"

"What? Real gold and silver can't buy goods?"

"Must use Yinzhou Coin?"

Lao Tan looked astonished and hurriedly inquired about what this Yinzhou Coin was all about.

These past few days, merchants traveling between Yinzhou, Yangzhou, and Kezhou were all discussing this Yinzhou Coin. After all, they all relied on Yintan City for their livelihood; how could they not be concerned when a Yinzhou Coin suddenly appeared?

"Lao Tan, hahaha, the wind has changed. Those carts of gold and silver of yours are no longer useful! Now, to stock up at Yintan City, you must use Yinzhou Coin. Look, see this? It's this thing!"

Lao Tan grew anxious: "Oh no, I didn't know! What should I do? Where can I exchange for Yinzhou Coin?"

Someone nearby said: "You can't exchange for it anymore; Yintan City has suspended the issuance of Yinzhou Coin!"

Lao Tan jumped with anxiety: "That won't do, my employer over there is waiting! What is to be done, what is to be done!"

In the business of trading, reputation is everything. The wealthy families in Jinghua wanted wine; if he couldn't deliver it to them on time, he would have to pay them damages!

He rushed to Yinzhou. Over the past two days, he had pulled many strings, but it was all to no avail; no one could pull goods out of Yintan City using gold and silver.

This made him even more anxious, and his hair had turned white in just a few days.

He did the math and gritted his teeth: "Whoever has Yinzhou Coin, I want to buy it—one gold for one silver!"

Inside Fengming Tower, everyone stirred at the news.

One gold for one silver?

There is such a good thing?

"I have some, come, come, how much do you want?"

"Is fifty enough?"

"Fifty is worth nothing, keep going, do you have more?"

Lao Tan did the math. He had to secure five hundred gold—that is, ten thousand taels of silver worth of Drunken Yinzhou—within three days and return to Jinghua, otherwise, he would lose everything down to his underwear on this deal! If it were one gold for one silver, he would still make a profit!

And these past few days, merchants like Lao Tan had encountered the same situation.

The market is just like this.

It changes in an instant.

If you can grasp it, you can make money; if you cannot, you lose money.

Heaven and Hell are but a single thought apart.

And so.

This Fengming Tower became the trading market for these Yinzhou Coins.

"What is the price of Yinzhou Coin today?"

"I want some, I want some!"

"One gold for one silver, I'll take as much as you have!"

Many Yinzhou people swarmed over and gradually joined the ranks. Because just a few days ago, Liu Zheng announced a policy: from now on, the monthly wages of all public officials in Yinzhou Prefecture, Yangzhou Prefecture, and Kezhou Prefecture, all staff in Yintan City, and all soldiers enlisted in the Yinzhou Army would be paid in Yinzhou Coin.

At first, people were resistant in their hearts.

But holding onto their trust in Young Master Liu, they accepted it for the time being.

At this moment, they were overjoyed.

"Does this mean we've earned a few more taels of silver?"

"Young Master Liu is truly a generous master; I said it before, he wouldn't let us suffer a loss!"

The people of Yinzhou were all laughing heartily.

Seeing more and more people competing with him for Yinzhou Coin, Lao Tan grew anxious: "Are there any more? I don't have enough here, I still want more! One gold for two silver, one gold for two silver!"

Boom!

Many people who were watching from the sidelines could no longer hold back upon hearing this and swarmed toward Lao Tan.

Several small merchants over there were equally anxious.

"I'll pay one gold for two silver too!"

"I'll take as much as you have!"

Just at this moment.

Someone suddenly roared: "Everyone, stop fighting! Hurry to the gate of Yintan City! Someone there wants to return Yinzhou Coin!"

"What?"

Upon hearing this, Lao Tan ran out like a madman.

These small merchants looked at one another.

People here can't even buy Yinzhou Coin, and you're returning it over there?

Run!

Run without stopping!

……

At the entrance of Yintan City.

Those wealthy merchants were all staring in astonishment.

Who said Yintan City had no money?

Who said they were going to run away?

Could these boxes upon boxes of gold and silver be fake?

And besides……

Listening to what the Prefect Liu meant, the Yinzhou Coin that was bought for one gold previously could be refunded for one gold and two silver today? In this world, who does business like this?

The whole scene went quiet, and Liu Zheng chuckled, "Everyone, let's begin! You first, how much are you refunding?"

"I am refunding 100,000 Yinzhou Coins!"

This wealthy merchant, who was also a representative of a Feudatory King, was quite wealthy and imposing. Thinking that he could earn an extra 200,000 taels of silver in just these few days, he couldn't help but tremble all over.

Having done business for a lifetime, where had he ever seen money so easy to earn?

The others also stared intently.

They did not believe that Yintan City would really give out an extra 200,000 in silver.

Liu Zheng, however, smiled: "Good, 100,000 Yinzhou Coins, 100,000 gold and 200,000 silver, refund it to him!"

Zheng Yue Ru and Jiang Xuan were very reluctant, and even glared coldly at the merchant, but in the end, they followed what Liu Zheng said, counted it out on the spot, and paid out 100,000 gold and 200,000 silver!

The entire crowd let out a sound of shock.

"This……"

"They really gave it?"

"My god, has Yintan City gone mad?"

People could no longer hold back.

"I'll come too, I'll come too!"

"I have 50,000!"

"I have 30,000!"

30,000 would mean a clean profit of 60,000 taels of silver; who wouldn't be excited?

"Young Master……"

"Brother Liu……"

Watching this scene, which was as intense as a raging fire, Jiang Xuan, Du Biao, and Zheng Yue Ru were all anxious.

They truly could not understand what Liu Zheng wanted to do.

Could it be that just to gain the trust of these people, he had to suffer such a huge deficit?

Liu Zheng was as steady as Mount Tai, with only one word.

"Pay out!"

No matter how many people there were, or how many Yinzhou Coins, all were refunded according to the standard of one gold to two silver.

Very quickly, the few boxes of gold and silver had all been paid out.

Then, a few more boxes were brought over……

"Hahahaha, this Young Master Liu is truly generous!"

"But playing like this, how long can he keep it up?"

No one noticed that at this moment, not far from Yintan City, a few people had been watching the situation unfolding here. These people were sent by Chen Ping of Liangzhou Prefecture to scout for information.

Soon, Yintan City had already paid out 30 million taels of silver!

The scene was still continuing.

Some ill-intentioned people were already waiting to see the look on Liu Zheng's face in a moment—once you are truly bankrupt, let's see if you can still keep that smile on your face?

However……

Just at this moment.

A group of small peddlers came running from afar, and running at the very front was none other than that Lao Tan.

"Don't refund!"

"Everyone, don't refund!"

"Sell them to me!"

"I'll pay one gold and two silver... no, I'll buy them for one gold and three silver!"

This voice instantly cut through the air, and everyone stared in a daze.

In his heart, Liu Zheng finally let out a sigh of relief and truly smiled.

"How... how much?"

"One gold and three silver, but I can't take too many, I still need 300 gold worth!"

"Hurry up, time waits for no one!"

Lao Tan was anxious to the point of suffocation; he needed to load the goods immediately and leave at once to make it back in time to deliver the goods.

However……

The more he acted like this, the more these people felt something was wrong.

"Hurry up, aren't you all wanting to refund?"

Lao Tan was about to vomit blood.

"Hehe, no way, I want one gold and four silver for mine……"

"That's right, that's right, I don't want to refund for now! If you can accept one gold and four silver, then come find me!"

These people are all sharp as tacks. Seeing Yinzhou Coin suddenly become so popular, who wouldn't know to raise the price on the spot?

Lao Tan cried out, "No way, then I'd really be losing money!"

Who would have thought Liu Zheng would wave his hand and smile, "This Count, here are the Yinzhou Coins that were just returned, but the price has already risen again; one gold for three silver, do you want them?"

"Yes, yes, yes!"

Lao Tan hurried over.

The group of small merchants behind him also rushed over one after another: "I want some too!"

"One gold for three silver!"

"It's settled, you can't raise it again!"

The others, however, were all stunned.

All of a sudden, what is this situation?

Weren't these Yinzhou Coins all supposed to be returned? How come everyone is coming over to snatch them up?

Something is wrong!

There is something fishy about this!

These wealthy merchants all felt that something was off; could it be that these people were hired to put on a show again?

A scam!

This must be a scam!

They still did not believe everything happening before their eyes.

However, when they discovered that these people were using real gold and silver, at the price of one gold for three silver, to buy back all the Yinzhou Coins they had just returned for one gold and two silver, and then running into Yintan City to pull goods...

This back-and-forth of real gold and silver was enough to blind these people.

For a moment.

The wealthy merchant who was the first to sell at the price of one gold for two silver had a face as black as coal.

This...

With all this back and forth, hadn't he lost out on two hundred thousand taels?

Pfft!

He spat out blood on the spot.

The others were the same; one gold for two silver suddenly didn't seem so good anymore. Now it was one gold for three silver!

The Yinzhou Coins on the table were swept clean in an instant.

Back and forth.

Zheng Yue Ru was bewildered.

Jiang Xuan was dumbfounded.

Du Biao was also stunned.

This Yintan City had not only taken back all thirty million taels that had just been distributed, but had also earned an extra three million taels...

Three million taels.

Zheng Yue Ru rubbed her eyes; she even began to doubt the world.

Since when was money so easy to earn?

She looked at Liu Zheng quietly.

Is this what Brother Liu called market manipulation...

Is this what Brother Liu called leeks?

However...

The matter was not yet over.

"Young Master Liu, are there any more Yinzhou Coins?"

"Sigh, it's not easy for us small merchants, spare some for us..."

"That's right, the whole family is waiting to eat!"

"One gold for three silver, could we have some more?"

At this, those wealthy merchants looked at each other, then swallowed hard.

They.

Started to feel tempted.

No one could remain unmoved by the carts of gold and silver coming and going at the entrance of Yintan City.

Then, the first person couldn't help but step forward.

"Young Master Liu, a few days ago, there were ten million Yinzhou Coins... why not bring them all out and give it a try?"