Chapter 185
Chapter 185
‘A mountain of gold coins and countless gold ingots... it's like looking at a mountain made of gold! How thrilling. How magnificent!’
Shen Lang was inwardly ecstatic, a feeling of exhilaration washing over him. There were still four days left until the debt was due. Then, he would slap the Hidden Yuan Society across the face and humiliate everyone who had doubted him.
So this is what a sea of gold looks like. He felt like a movie protagonist, bathing in a tub filled with bundles of cash.
“Young Master Shen, look at this gold coin.”
Shen Lang took the gold coin from Huang Tong. He was slightly taken aback when Huang Tong shone a lantern on it, but he quickly noticed something special about the coin. It was a gold coin with no design stamped on it. Moreover, its brilliant shine made it look brand new, as if it had just been minted. The Heavenly Path Society's envoy, Huang Tong, said.
“I don't know what plans you have, but I thought Young Master Shen would need newly minted gold coins. To avoid any unnecessary complications that might interfere with your plans, we didn't stamp any text or designs on the coins.”
Shen Lang was once again filled with admiration.
‘Truly the Heavenly Path Society! A group with the strength to once contend for the world. It's no wonder their ability to read people is so remarkable.’
The newly minted coins had to be unmarked to ensure there were no flaws in Shen Lang's plan. In this world, many organizations held the right to mint currency. In ancient China, for a time, many individuals could mint their own metal currency, but eventually, the state reclaimed the right of coinage. So, in the State of Yue, who could mint currency?
The State of Yue used three types of metal currency. Copper coins, silver coins, and gold coins. Of these, the State of Yue managed copper coins the most strictly. Only the Ministry of Revenue could mint them; private minting was forbidden. Copper coins were the easiest to mix with other metals, often resulting in substandard coinage, so local authorities cracked down on them most severely.
The common people mainly used copper coins, but they lacked the ability to distinguish counterfeit ones. If fake coins began to disrupt the market, the entire nation's finances could fall into chaos. Thus, only two types of copper coins circulated in the State of Yue: those of the Great Yan Empire and those of the State of Yue itself. Anyone who counterfeited coins was executed, and those who counterfeited coins minted by the Great Yan Empire had their entire clan exterminated.
In contrast, silver coins were less common in the market, and a total of five entities in the State of Yue had the right to mint them. The State of Yue's Ministry of Revenue, the Duchy of Weiwu, the Marquisate of Zhenxi, the Hidden Yuan Society, and the Heavenly Path Society. The Hidden Yuan Society and the Heavenly Path Society were commissioned to mint currency, while the Duchy of Weiwu and the Marquisate of Zhenxi minted coins to fund their armies. Although there was a uniform style for silver coins nationwide, those made by the Duchy of Weiwu had a small character 'Bian' engraved on them, and those from the Grand Protectorate of Zhenxi had 'Zhong'. To be able to engrave one's family name on currency was a great honor.
As for gold coins, aside from their use in 'gold-melting dens'—places where large amounts of money change hands, like brothels or gambling houses—they hardly circulated in the market at all. They were used purely for large-scale transactions. Moreover, those who dealt in gold coins were usually incredibly wealthy or of high status, so they possessed the ability to verify the authenticity of the coins. Therefore, many, many organizations could mint gold coins. The King, the Ministry of Revenue, the Hidden Yuan Society, the Heavenly Path Society, and even long-established noble families could mint gold coins.
If one had a gold mine, they could extract gold and mint coins. Even without a mine, one could simply melt down old gold coins and stamp their family crest on them. A gold coin was essentially a piece of gold of a certain weight, created for the convenience of calculation. Gold itself held intrinsic value as currency.
Currently, a gold coin weighed approximately seven qian and was made with over 95 percent purity, which would be about 35 grams in modern units. When two parties conducted a transaction using gold coins, the first thing they did was randomly select a few coins, weigh them, and check their purity. They would take dozens of coins, cut them in half to inspect the inside, and even use water displacement to measure the density and determine the gold's purity. As such, gold coins were a form of currency that was difficult to counterfeit in transactions between great merchants and powerful figures.
Although many places could mint gold coins, to avoid the hassle of verification, people typically transacted with four types of coins. The gold coins of the Great Yan Empire, the State of Yue, the Hidden Yuan Society, and the Heavenly Path Society. These coins had already been weighed and thoroughly inspected; they were never underweight, and their purity often exceeded the regulated 95 percent.
Next, Jin Hui, Jin Zhong, and others were to personally lead a contingent of troops to transport the 20,000 jin of gold to Sorrowful Love Island. At that moment, the envoy from the Heavenly Path Society looked like he had something to say but was hesitating.
So, Shen Lang asked him.
“Does your society wish to negotiate about the glass matter?”
Huang Tong replied.
“As expected, there is nothing Young Master Shen cannot foresee.”
“Master Huang, follow me. Let's go to my secret workshop.”
***
Under Mulan's protection, Shen Lang took Huang Tong to the secret workshop at the foot of the Count of Xuanwu's mountain and personally demonstrated the mirror-making technique. Huang Tong was utterly astonished.
‘It's... this simple?’
It was just a matter of coating the glass with a thin layer of silver. But upon closer inspection, it wasn't that simple after all. The purity of the silver coating had to be extremely high; any impurities would make the mirror's surface uneven, preventing a clear and bright reflection. The silvering process also had to be extremely precise. Huang Tong scooped up a ladle of the molten silver liquid and examined it closely. Its purity was so astonishingly high that it almost looked like water.
‘This is an incredibly, truly difficult and remarkable technique!’
Shen Lang handed him a thick booklet.
“This contains all the techniques for making glass mirrors, with every step clearly written down. Furthermore, just in case, I've included illustrated instructions on how to handle it. How to brighten the silver and increase its purity is all clearly detailed as well.”
Huang Tong took the booklet and looked through it. It was over two hundred pages long, with a hundred pages of diagrams alone. It couldn't have been more detailed. To earn a million gold taels with a single booklet of over two hundred pages... Huang Tong was deeply moved by the thought that knowledge was truly wealth.
“I can only express my admiration. Young Master Shen is a truly great man, as if sent from the heavens.”
To receive a million gold taels for just coating glass with a layer of silver—someone else might have been angry. This situation could be seen as similar to the following anecdote.
A factory was suffering great losses because a very important machine had broken down. No matter how many people came, they couldn't fix it. Then, an expert arrived, struck a certain part of the machine with a hammer, and it was immediately repaired. When the expert charged a substantial fee for the repair, everyone got angry, saying it was extortion to demand so much money for a single hammer strike. But there was something they forgot. In truth, the important part wasn't the act of striking, but the knowledge of *where* to strike. That was the skill that earned the money. Huang Tong was a man who understood this truth, which is why he wasn't angry.
“And I have some good news for you, Young Master Shen. Thanks to you, I have been nominated as a candidate for the next council of elders.”
“Congratulations.”
Huang Tong stepped back, bowed, and said earnestly.
“From this day forward, I wish to form a strategic alliance with you, Young Master Shen.”
This was a momentous promise. Huang Tong now represented the will of the Heavenly Path Society in many respects, so forming an alliance with him was tantamount to forming an alliance with the society itself. He had truly made an ally of a great power.
Shen Lang replied to him.
“Just what I wanted.”
The two extended their arms and shook hands again, an act that signified their agreement was sealed. But Huang Tong once again looked like he had something to say but couldn't bring himself to say it. Shen Lang asked him.
“Is this about the glass supply rights?”
“There is no one more brilliant than you, Young Master Shen.”
“Let's make it five years. Have the Heavenly Path Society purchase glass from my family for five years. After five years, I will transfer the glass-making technology, and even all the workshops, to the Heavenly Path Society. However, from then on, I must receive three percent of the sales price for every glass product produced and sold.”
It was a familiar scene. Qualcomm provided SoCs to mobile phone manufacturers and, in addition to the cost of the CPU, collected patent fees. The specific price was three to five percent of the smartphone's price. Earth had patent laws, but this world did not yet have such a thing; it relied entirely on the 'spirit of the contract'. The spirit of the contract hinged on whether the other party was strong. If Shen Lang built up a powerful enough faction, the Heavenly Path Society would maintain their strategic partnership and absolutely honor the contract.
Huang Tong immediately nodded and replied.
“We have a deal!”
***
There were still three days left until the deadline to repay the debt to the Hidden Yuan Society. Public opinion, contrary to expectations, had grown quiet, and the numerous imperial censors no longer attacked the Count of Xuanwu's Estate. This state was like the darkness before the dawn. No, it was more like the calm before the storm.
The public opinion the enemies desired had already been formed, and an emotional consensus that the Count of Xuanwu's Estate's destruction was inevitable had taken root in many people's minds. Most were watching the current situation with eager eyes, eagerly awaiting the scene of the Count of Xuanwu's Estate collapsing in a heap. Everyone had seen the Count of Xuanwu's Estate rise, watched it prosper enough to host grand banquets, and now they wanted to see it fall.
The fall of a century-old noble house was truly a great spectacle, a scene one might see only once in a lifetime. The last time, when the Count of Dongjiang's Estate fell, it was too sudden. The family was finished in an instant after an armed conflict. But the fall of the Count of Xuanwu's Estate this time was different. For over half a year, the enemies had carried out numerous schemes and laid all sorts of groundwork for the estate's downfall and destruction. These actions were a grand spectacle that captured the public's attention. Everyone was filled with anticipation for the thrilling scene that would unfold.
The Count of Xuanwu's Estate was staggering like a large, exhausted elephant about to slump to the ground; it looked as if it could collapse at any moment. And in the sky above, dozens of vultures circled. The moment that elephant died, the vultures would dive down, frantically tear at its carcass, and vie to devour its flesh.
In recent days, numerous powerful and influential families had visited Xuanwu City, and more and more people began to flock there. The Marquis of Jing'an's Estate, the Marquis of Zhenbei's Estate, the Marquis of Zhenyuan's Estate, the Count of Jinhai's Estate, the Count of Wu'an's Estate, the New Administration Faction, the young master of the Chi Clan—the Spice Kings, the young lord of Raging Tide City, and so on. Countless people gathered in Xuanwu City.
In an instant, all of Xuanwu City's inns were filled to capacity, and the prices of meat, vegetables, and other goods all rose. The price of those "other goods" mentioned here soared particularly at night, forming a peculiar price structure. This pack of jackals was waiting nearby, ready to be the first to rush in and tear at the fattened meat the moment the event occurred.