TGPSAC – Chapter 99

In late April, the Imperial City Division began a frenzy of arrests.

On the first of May, An Yizhi led a contingent to Beining to welcome Princess Lin’an.

Once she had received the princess and escorted her back into Great Zhou territory, An Yizhi would remain at the border and not return to the capital.

Her return this time had been unexpected, and her departure was just as swift. There was no telling when they would meet again.

Chi Wan was quite fond of An Yizhi. A good general who served her country and its people, and loved her soldiers as her own children—such a person was truly rare.

She hoped that by their next meeting, the situation at court would have improved.

On the same day, the delegations from Beining and Nanyue departed, but Beining’s A Baoping and Nanyue’s Xi Wu did not return with them, indicating they still had some ulterior motives in the capital.

What those motives were remained unknown for the time being.

In mid-May, as the weather grew progressively hotter, the prototypes for the banknotes and silver coins Chi Wan had been developing were completed. They were crafted with entirely new techniques; each silver coin had the same weight and featured anti-counterfeiting marks, intended to alleviate the silver shortage.

The anti-counterfeiting measures for the banknotes still needed some work and required further research, but the silver coins could be issued first.

Upon seeing the silver coins, Yu Jiuzhou immediately ordered them to be minted and a trial issuance to begin. The trial would naturally start in Yanbei, then gradually expand to other regions.

The first step was to open banks, or yinzhuang, to issue the silver coins. Merchants who wished to obtain official positions would be required to use them, and the exchange for silver would be based on purchasing power.

For instance, a single silver coin weighed over twenty grams, but its projected purchasing power was equivalent to five times that of a tael of silver. This way, people would rather use the new coins than raw silver.

Especially for business, carrying one chest of silver coins was far better than carrying five chests of silver.

The exact conversion rates were another matter, not something that could be explained in a few words. It required Chi Wan to write a detailed policy document before implementation.

Later, the silver coins would be used as a basis for converting to banknotes—for example, a one-hundred-unit banknote would be worth one hundred silver coins—gradually reforming the currency.

Currency reform was no easy task. At present, Yu Jiuzhou and Chi Wan had not yet secured absolute power, so many things could only be done slowly and cautiously.

But silver coins were different from banknotes; they were still real, valuable silver, which made them relatively easy to introduce for now.

Chi Wan recalled theories of currency and the history of monetary reform, writing a great deal on the subject to show Yu Jiuzhou when she had time.

Moreover, the Ministry of Revenue was currently facing a severe deficit that could not be resolved overnight. The Imperial City Division had confiscated the assets of so many households, yet had only managed to procure a few million taels of silver, while many were clamoring for payment.

More and more people were coming to the central government for money. When the government couldn’t pay, representatives from various armies blockaded the Ministry of Revenue, leading to several clashes.

Yu Jiuzhou had to issue the silver coins as quickly as possible. A few million taels could be minted into more than ten million silver coins—based on a tael being fifty grams and a coin being twenty-five—which could temporarily resolve the crisis.

However, the silver coins were not yet widely accepted, so their use would have to be enforced.

The plan was to forcibly recall silver, mint silver coins, then create banknotes, and finally implement a paper currency system.

Things had to be done one step at a time. Forget reporting to Yu Jiuzhou, Chi Wan could spend ages just writing it all down. She wasn’t a professional finance student and needed many others to consult with.

Fortunately, Yu Jiuzhou had advisors. Chi Wan could ask them directly about anything she needed. Those advisors were quick to understand, and among them were certainly some with a keen sense for finance.

It could only be said that Chi Wan’s knowledge of finance was limited. What she could do was establish the broad direction based on the historical development of money; the specific details had to be handled by professionals.

Historically, currency had evolved from coins of copper and silver to silver certificates and banknotes, then to minted silver coins, and finally to paper money.

Banknotes were also a form of paper money, and their failure was due to over-issuance. Printing money whenever funds were low was not a viable solution. The circulation of paper money was based on national credibility; reckless printing would consume that credibility, making it difficult to issue paper money again in the future.

The consequences would be severe. If the central government ultimately refused to foot the bill, the common people would be the ones to pay the price.

Chi Wan’s original intention in proposing banknotes was not to harm the people. She trusted that Yu Jiuzhou would not squander Great Zhou’s credibility in such a way.

Although, by now, Great Zhou’s credibility was already nearly exhausted.

Three major events occurred in late May.

First, the proposal for silver coins was approved, and minting officially began.

The banknote plan was still not brought forward. After all, the Shengyuan Emperor was not Yu Jiuzhou; with his greedy nature, he would inevitably over-issue and over-print.

Issuing silver coins, however, was easier to control and more likely to convince the people that they had real purchasing power.

Between forcing the issuance of banknotes and forcing the use of silver coins, the latter was undoubtedly the better choice. For the common people, if they had to choose, silver coins were the most practical. If something went wrong with the issuance, at least the coins were made of silver, and they could recover some of their value.

Second, the Yanbei reforms began to spread outward, reaching the entire country in a very short time.

The reforms in Yanbei had brought significant revenue to the central government. Since the government was short on funds, it decided to intensify the reforms to increase its income.

This was a blessing in disguise. The reforms were successfully promoted, which was an unexpected but positive outcome.

Third, and most importantly, was something Chi Wan had pondered for a long time without understanding.

She and Yu Jiuzhou were sleeping in separate rooms, and had been for a month.

Since late April, Yu Jiuzhou had not let her touch her. A couple of days later, she had her move to a separate room. The two of them had not shared a bed for a month.

Logically, these past two days should have been Yu Jiuzhou’s Rain and Dew Period, a time when she would certainly have been summoned to attend to her.

But she had waited for two days, and no such summons came.

Her daily routine remained the same. Apart from official duties, the rest of her time was spent attending to Yu Jiuzhou. She hadn’t changed, so why was she no longer allowed to attend to her at night?

However, Yu Jiuzhou had changed somewhat. Her temper had become peculiar. She would get angry at the slightest provocation and was always misinterpreting her meaning, even when Chi Wan had done nothing and meant no such thing.

In short, Chi Wan had no idea how she had offended the Grand Princess. Now, speaking was wrong, and staying silent was even more wrong.

Take today, for example. Good news had been arriving frequently; it wouldn’t be long before the thirty-million-tael deficit could be covered through various channels in the provinces.

Yet Yu Jiuzhou looked anything but happy, radiating an icy chill.

Chi Wan cautiously approached her. “Your Highness?”

“Where have you been?” The first thing Yu Jiuzhou said upon seeing her was to ask where she had been.

In truth, she hadn’t been anywhere. She just went back and forth between the Imperial City Division and the Princess’s Residence, only going to the palace for occasional court sessions or when summoned by the emperor.

A two-point line, going nowhere else. She would seek out Yu Jiuzhou as soon as she returned, or stay home writing, transcribing everything from her memory to prevent herself from forgetting it later, or being unable to recall it when needed.

This way, she wouldn’t have to worry about suddenly being unable to remember something when it was required.

As the saying goes, the faintest ink is more reliable than the best memory.

Her memory was good, but she was always worried. If she couldn’t walk with Yu Jiuzhou to the very end, she hoped the things she wrote down could help her.

At the very least, Yu Jiuzhou’s coldness these past days had left her completely bewildered.

She hadn’t done anything different. She was still the same as before. Although they had never formally confessed their feelings, they had been getting to know each other like a properly matched couple. Not long ago, they had been enjoying the sweetness of newlyweds.

Anyone who came near them would complain about how sickeningly sweet they were.

Feeling the cold air emanating from Yu Jiuzhou, Chi Wan subconsciously wanted to flee the scene. As time went on, she found herself somewhat reluctant to face Yu Jiuzhou.

If she had done something wrong, she could admit her mistake. But this agonizing uncertainty was unbearable. Her cautious probing had yielded no results.

Still, Chi Wan said, “I was writing. There has been some unrest in the armies of several regions recently. I was thinking of ways to minimize such incidents.”

It wasn’t exactly unrest, but rather troublemaking. Soldiers were gathering and causing disturbances in their barracks, and in serious cases, they even went into the cities to make trouble. The common people couldn’t bear so many ruffian soldiers causing chaos, even if it was just bare-fisted brawling.

Over time, brawls could escalate into rebellion, forcing the court to send troops to suppress it.

If the suppression failed, the fire could slowly spread until it became too much for Great Zhou to handle.

That was why the central government had to raise money quickly and pay the soldiers their salaries.

Recently, the assets of many people had been confiscated. All in all, including other funds, the central government had about ten million taels on hand. Yu Jiuzhou had said that the Princess’s Residence would cover the shortfall.

Ten million taels of silver would first be used for military pay. Even if only a third was distributed, as long as the soldiers saw some silver, any amount at all, it would appease them for the time being while more funds were gathered.

The Shengyuan Emperor was still unwilling to release the silver, wanting to give out only half and keep five million taels. It was only after the Grand Secretariat, leading half of the officials, pressured him that the matter was settled.

No one wanted the chaos to persist because of a lack of silver. If it did, could they still sit securely in the imperial court, looking down upon the ants from on high?

Of course, many of those officials had been placed by Yu Jiuzhou; otherwise, not so many would have dared to oppose the emperor.

In doing this, Yu Jiuzhou had already aroused the emperor’s vigilance, but for now, he had given her the power, and he had long anticipated this outcome.

She was like a crown prince; many of her orders had to be carried out throughout Great Zhou. At such times, it was inevitable that she would encroach upon imperial authority and incur the emperor’s displeasure. But there was no other way. To get things done, this was necessary.

Presumably, when the Shengyuan Emperor had asked Yu Jiuzhou to act as regent, he hadn’t intended to give her no power at all.

In any case, Yu Jiuzhou had been busy lately, and Chi Wan was also trying her best to find solutions, so that not all the pressure fell on Yu Jiuzhou’s shoulders.

She had done many things and provided many ideas, all to lighten Yu Jiuzhou’s burden.

If, at the beginning, she had thought that the sooner Yu Jiuzhou succeeded, the sooner she could leave the capital and live the life she wanted…

Now, she was thinking of not leaving. But she still wanted to help Yu Jiuzhou achieve her dream.

At the very least, she couldn’t appear useless. No matter what, their relationship was that of partners. She wanted to be with Yu Jiuzhou, to strive for the dream in her heart.

If the dream in Yu Jiuzhou’s heart was to become an empress, then her dream was to help Yu Jiuzhou become one.

But Yu Jiuzhou’s recent attitude was truly cold, and she had no idea what she had done wrong.

“Your Highness,” Chi Wan spoke first, before Yu Jiuzhou could say anything. “Have I done something wrong?”

Wrong? Of course Chi Wan wasn’t wrong. It was just that Yu Jiuzhou couldn’t understand. She had been so obvious, yet Chi Wan, a physician, couldn’t see it at all. Did she really have to spell it out?

Should she pretend to be ill and have an imperial physician see her?

No, that wouldn’t work. Chi Wan would surely be the first to diagnose her. If she pretended not to know, then what would she do?

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