Chapter 42: Fake Bronze Shadow
Su Shengsheng naturally knew what Mu Ze wanted to ask.
In the land of Nanling, the constraints on women go far beyond words and deeds. The deeper constraints are the shackles of thought, which are everywhere and the most deadly.
Not only are they deprived of the right to learn knowledge, but they also lose the opportunity to see the vast world. The value of their lives seems to be reflected only in having children.
When faced with natural disasters or man-made calamities, women could hardly save even their own flesh and blood, and even worse, they themselves would be ruthlessly sold.
Their monarch not only legalized this, but also became the actual beneficiary.
Since birth, the fate of women has been firmly bound to this male-dominated dynasty.
Women are imprisoned in the heavy cage of ethics, fearing that they will cross the line, and live under endless oppression.
For Su Shengsheng, she can no longer accept this kind of life of dependence on men.
She knew very well that it was difficult to obtain everything in the world.
Either you achieve nirvana through the flames of desire, or you drown this hard-earned rebirth.
Therefore, she does not care about the misunderstandings and prejudices of the world. To her, nothing is more important than holding her destiny in her own hands.
"People have to survive." Her answer was concise and to the point.
Mu Ze had no intention of asking, nor did he expect her to answer so directly. For a moment, he didn't know how to respond.
He recalled the three thousand miles he had traveled with the Su family. Everyone else seemed to have lost their souls, but this seemingly weak and fragile woman was the only one who was not defeated by the difficulties. Instead, she clearly recognized the reality and bravely stood up.
Upon hearing this, the soldiers in the room put down their chopsticks and watched the scene silently.
"Miss Su, how did you find those three people that day?" Xie Xuan also put down his cup and cast a faint gaze at Su Shengsheng.
In fact, this question has been lingering in his mind for a long time.
Su Shengsheng's expression paused slightly. It was not that she was unwilling to tell, but the reason was too complicated to explain clearly at the moment.
"I've had a photographic memory since I was a child. All I have to do is classify and verify the fake copper coins I collected according to size, shape, pattern and weight, and find the recurring patterns among them..." She chose her words carefully.
Xie Xuan raised his eyebrows when he heard this and interrupted her: "Trajectory?"
"The general must have gathered intelligence, using people as clues." Su Shengsheng didn't hide it. "I followed the map and worked backwards."
She picked up the cups and plates on the table and simply simulated the layout.
“Suppose I were a counterfeiter…”
However, just as she had made her plans and said a few words, she saw Mu Ze suddenly lose his composure and spit out his drink.
Xie Xuan glanced over indifferently, Mu Ze coughed and closed his mouth.
"Now, the copper coins minted by the mints in various places are transported by the transport envoys and deposited into the royal treasury, and then transferred to the three mints."
What she was referring to was a series of rules that the emperor established after his illegitimate seizure of the throne in order to centralize power.
Even though she didn't say it explicitly, everyone present knew it.
If not, copper coins from all over the place would have flocked to one place, and they would not have been unable to catch the person who put counterfeit coins into Bingxiang.
A faint light flashed in Xie Xuan's eyes, and his gaze fell on Su Shengsheng again.
The appearance of such a large number of counterfeit copper coins during the war made him suspect that there was collusion between the officials and the counterfeiters.
even……
His narrow and long phoenix eyes slowly raised, as if trying to guess the deeper meaning of Su Shengsheng's words.
Su Shengsheng knew that her current status was awkward and she could not speak directly about the mistakes in the emperor's policies.
But this Xuanming King helped her grandfather several times, and later she accidentally disrupted his deployment, but was not punished.
So, she decided to tell everything she knew without reservation.
"...Once the copper restriction order was issued, counterfeiters had to go to rich areas to gather enough copper. It's no surprise that they targeted these three areas."
What Su Shengsheng was talking about was the origin of the three batches of counterfeit currency that she had found.
The copper restriction order in Nanling was also issued after the new emperor came to power.
Just because half of the country was lost, the number of copper mines dropped sharply, and copper coins were needed for circulation for both military supplies and people's livelihood.
The emperor's eagerness to stabilize the economy only fueled inflation.
Because of the money shortage, he first centralized power and then restricted copper.
There was even an absurd measure at one point that advocated halving the copper content in copper coins.
Firstly, it can alleviate the shortage of money, and secondly, it can deter counterfeiters.
After all, in this way, the copper content of real copper coins is almost the same as that of fake copper coins, so there is no profit in counterfeiting.
However, the emergence of this measure did cause confusion in the market for a while.
It was difficult to distinguish the real from the fake, and merchants took advantage of the shortage of copper coins to hoard them, using them to curb the market economy, which caused widespread public outrage. In order to maintain the stability of the country, the matter was eventually abandoned.
But the emperor still didn't learn his lesson.
Different tax policies in different states were treated differently, resulting in huge differences in copper coin exchange rates in different places.
This forced various regions to internally digest the copper coins, resulting in poor trade and a continued economic downturn.
The difference in exchange rates across different regions is exactly what counterfeiters want to exploit.
Su Shengsheng spoke simply and directly, but Mu Ze no longer dared to look down on her because she was a woman.
Starting from the perspective of the counterfeiter, the author reveals the essence of the problem in a unique way.
But the counterfeiters and the situation of copper coins from various places are explained so clearly and thoroughly.
He could only sigh, she was indeed the granddaughter of the Imperial Teacher.
But in such a marginal situation in the court, is there really no guidance from the old imperial teacher?
Mu Ze was a little confused for a moment.
He turned around and saw Xie Xuan listening silently without saying anything. He didn't know whether Xie Xuan had thought of this.
"...Judging from the number of fake copper coins that appeared at Tianqian Pass, the taxes from these three places are transported to the imperial capital, but in terms of expenditure, they are tilted towards the various passes bordering the border." Su Shengsheng's voice continued.
The cup that Xie Xuan was spinning in his hand stopped for a moment. Su Shengsheng could tell his recent discovery just from the circulation of the coins, which made him look serious.
"The accumulation of counterfeit currency on the southwestern border, where the land is vast and the population is sparse, has caused prices to inflate three or four times as much."
Years of war have led to an expansion of military supplies on various borders, but low productivity has meant that people are unable to consume.
With so much counterfeit currency stockpiled at the checkpoints around Nanling but unable to circulate with the mainland, it is no wonder that prices have skyrocketed.
At this point, her voice slowed down again. "One coin has two values. Money is more valuable than goods. Logically, if counterfeiters want to make more profit, they should distribute counterfeit coins in the mainland..."
In the inland, rice costs ten cents per liter, while in the border area, it costs twenty cents per liter. Even if it is counterfeit currency, it can only barely make up for the difference.
If the counterfeiters want to make more profit, they should use the counterfeit currency to purchase food in the mainland and then sell it at the border in exchange for real currency.
But judging by their trajectory, ever since the Northern Rong moved south two years ago, the counterfeiters' focus seems to have shifted to the border...
Thinking of King Xuanming's action of sealing the retreat, Su Shengsheng's eyelids twitched inexplicably.
Could it be... that he suspected that Baishang Country was taking the opportunity to start a currency war?
Su Shengsheng's guess was not groundless.
In these thirteen southwestern passes, the main enemy of the Qilin Army is not the Beirong who has swallowed up half of Nanling.
But it is the Baishang Kingdom that occasionally crosses the border.
After Beirong swallowed up half of Nanling's territory, given the character of Nanling's current timid and peace-seeking emperor, Beirong, who was unable to fight a long-term war, would most likely turn around and swallow up the Baishang Kingdom that bordered it.
It's not impossible that the Baishang Kingdom could take advantage of the unstable political situation in Nanling to manipulate the border areas, causing unrest among the Nanling border garrisons...
Su Shengsheng was startled, and when she looked up at Xie Xuan, she suddenly met his eyes that were as dark as the underworld.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
