Chapter 728 — The Currency Reform Proposal

"But that would also concentrate all the risk and redemption pressure on oneself, and turn every country that gets 'fleeced' into one's enemy. Once those 'traps' explode, every ounce of gold and silver you seized will become a 'bomb' like a Rebecca crystal," Gao Yang shook his head. "We must make the whole world strong, not stand alone amid ruins. We must always remember this."

Padrick's expression turned solemn and he bowed his head. "Yes, Your Majesty."

"Then there is one more question," Gao Yang exhaled a long breath. "What shall we use to peg the currency's purchasing power?"

The purchasing power of representative money derives from definite gold and silver; gold and silver have a price, so the purchasing power of representative money is easy to measure. Credit currency, however, requires an artificial "anchor point," and that anchor point is absolutely crucial.

Put simply, it means finding a commodity whose value is relatively stable, indispensable to social activity, and widely used—and then having the state stipulate how much of that commodity one basic unit of currency can purchase.

In the initial stage of issuing credit currency, an anchor point must be used to define its purchasing power.

"Grain," Padrick said.

"Grain?" Gao Yi frowned slightly. "It is hardly suitable as an anchor..."

"But we can find nothing more suitable," Padrick said. "I initially considered using 'arcane nexus energy value' as the anchor, but magic is an energy ubiquitous in nature, and moreover there are extraordinaries who can gather magic by their own power. The arcane nexus, as an energy-gathering device, produces energy that does not qualify as an anchor; and the various forms of magical materials cannot be considered 'essential commodities'—in many regions, especially the more closed-off ones, people may go their whole lives without touching a magical artifact. But grain alone... is a necessity in every era and every region. And all we need to do is keep its price stable."

"...In the end, grain is the foundation of all," Gao Che mused for a long while, then sighed as if to himself. "Then let us tentatively adopt this plan. The detailed statistics and accounting will be handled by you."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

After a deep breath, Gao Yang felt his racing mind finally begin to cool.

This special and vitally important discussion could be considered preliminarily concluded here, but as the starting point of currency reform, what he and Padrick had discussed was still only a rough framework. Its refinement and practical application would doubtless require more people and more time. Yet regardless, having successfully taken this first step greatly relieved Gao Yang.

With that relief, his expression relaxed considerably. His gaze returned to the desk and swept over those few "banknotes."

"How is the current anti-counterfeiting technology performing?" he asked casually.

"The special ink formula has proven highly effective," Padrick said with a slight bow. "On Master Kamael's suggestion, we mixed a tiny amount of a special blended crystal dust into the ink. Under strong sunlight, or near a mana obelisk, the notes emit a particular shimmering effect. In addition, we have obtained Typhon's paper currency; their anti-counterfeiting methods are also worth studying. Their notes are made of specially treated fabric, with two strands of magical thread woven into the base material. The threads, through complex weaving, can display a particular shadow pattern in sunlight. When we produce our currency, we might combine the two techniques."

"However clever the anti-counterfeiting measures, there will always be those who risk it," Gao Yan nodded. "Beyond strict laws and punishments, it is also important to keep updating anti-counterfeiting technology. We must ensure one thing as far as possible: that the cost of most counterfeiting far exceeds the profit from it."

"As you say," Padrick said. "In fact, if an archmage were to devote himself to counterfeiting currency, he could certainly produce fakes that deceive everyone. But by our calculations, the effort most mages of that level expend in counterfeiting notes could earn them more than three times the profit in legitimate professions—so a sane extraordinary is unlikely to do such thankless work. And if they form a team and secretly purchase equipment and materials for mass production, that greatly raises the risk of exposure—equally thankless. At this stage, our anti-counterfeiting approach is essentially built on this logic."

Gao Yang gave an "mm" of acknowledgment, then a smile suddenly spread across his face. "One more thing... let us make our banknotes as beautiful as possible."

"Of course," Padrick smiled as well. "Exquisite currency is itself a display of technical strength. Though they no longer represent real gold and silver... at least people can still feel pleased when they receive them."

Padrick departed.

Gao Yang turned his head and glanced at Amber, who was standing just behind him to one side.

Unsurprisingly, the half-elf lady (or at least, she looked like a half-elf) was off wandering somewhere in her own head, her eyes glazed over for who knew how long.

But the moment Gao Yang turned his gaze her way, the goose snapped awake with a jolt, eyes wide as she stared at him: "Hey, are you two finally done talking?"

That knack of hers—shutting her brain off at will and then snapping right back from slacking into work mode—was truly something else.

He had no idea how she had ever trained it up...

"Gods above, I understand your brains less and less, especially yours," Amber said, letting out a great sigh of relief once she had confirmed Padric was really gone, then planted her hands on her hips and launched into a loud rant. "I honestly never knew there was so much trickery hidden inside these 'banknotes'... That Padric is a real talent—it's rare to see anyone who can go at it hammer and tongs with you in a field like this..."

"Padric is indeed a talent, far more outstanding than I imagined. I only passed a few concepts on to him, and he was able to grasp and apply them to this degree—I doubt many people could manage that," Gao Yang said, watching Amber with a half-smile. "But the fact that you could spot 'so much trickery'... means you understood a fair bit of it yourself."

"I don't understand a thing!!" Amber shrieked, nearly jumping out of her skin. "Don't you try to trick me into—"

"No need to panic, this work was never yours to begin with," Gao Yang said with a helpless shake of his head. "I only wanted to say that your intelligence gathering on the Kingdom of Gaoling and the Silver Empire has been timely. Keep watching in that direction, because the Typhonians are watching the same direction."

"Oh, leave that to me," Amber said, patting her chest with a smug look. "We can't send Military Intelligence Bureau agents that far out yet, but intelligence gathering isn't just about espionage—as long as information flows between north and south of the continent, there will always be intelligence to be had."

Listening to Amber's confident reply, Gao Yi smiled, his gaze drifting slowly toward the window.

In the lead-gray sky, snow was beginning to fall.