Ning Zhiheng asked again, "What's the situation with the other two paper experts?"
“According to them, their analysis of the paper fibers for the legal tender is not yet complete. There is still a lot of work to be done to produce paper that is exactly the same as the legal tender. However, just these 1 billion legal tenders are enough to give us a headache,” He Siming said.
The paper used to make banknotes has very high requirements for material. The paper used for banknotes in various countries is specially manufactured. The raw materials for papermaking are mostly made from plants such as cotton and hemp with long fibers. The paper made in this way is smooth, tough, stiff, and wear-resistant. After long-term circulation, the fibers do not loosen, become fuzzy, or break.
Furthermore, certain methods are employed during the papermaking process to give the paper certain characteristics, making it distinctly different from other papers.
However, each country has its own secret methods. For example, the Japanese yen is made primarily from the fiber of a unique plant native to Japan, combined with other plant fibers. The proportions of these components are also top secret. Other countries simply do not have this raw material, making the yen very difficult to counterfeit.
The same applies to Chinese legal tender. The U.S. Mint has a very high level of production quality and uses high-grade paper, so it is very difficult to produce the exact same paper.
Ning Zhiheng nodded and said, "It seems that it will take them some time to break through the technical problem of paper. For now, we just need to solve the problem of woodblock printing. What are your thoughts on how to destroy the woodblock printing?"
Upon hearing this, He Siming shook his head and said, "It's absolutely impossible. Kanda Tamayama is extremely protective of the engraving. He has never left it. This time, I only kept it for a short period during the transportation. He usually carries it with him, and every time we hand it over, he checks it with a microscope, for fear of any damage. Even if I wanted to tamper with it, it would be impossible. Now that the engraving has entered the banknote printing base, it's even more impossible. The engraving is on the fourth floor of the building, where Kanda Tamayama is working to complete the final engraving."
At this point, He Siming handed over the internal structural diagram of the building that he had drawn to Ning Zhiheng.
"This is a drawing I made from memory, especially the interior layout of the vault on the east side of the fourth floor where the legal tender is stored. I've drawn it all. Take a look!"
Ning Zhiheng was overjoyed upon hearing this. Although he also had the structural diagrams that Wang Hanmin and others had investigated, they were drawn based on the memories of former staff members of the library building, and many parts were not necessarily accurate. After all, if Kitaoka Ryoko wanted to turn it into a money printing base, she would definitely make some modifications. Now that He Siming had entered the building, comparing the two would give him a more concrete understanding of the internal structure.
Ning Zhiheng took the structural diagram and examined it carefully. Sure enough, he found that it was very similar to the structural diagram that Wang Hanmin had obtained before.
However, on the fourth floor, which is where the original printing press and legal tender were placed, Ryoko Kitaoka made extensive renovations. Apart from the necessary supporting pillars and walls, many rooms were opened up to form a large workshop where the printing press was placed, and next to it was the warehouse where the legal tender was stored.
"There were more than 20 guards in the entire building, and I estimate that the total number is at least twice that, which is about 40."
As I walked from the first floor to the second floor, I heard people talking and chatting, which I judged to be the dormitories of the staff and security personnel.
As we passed the third floor, a phone rang and we could hear voices talking on the phone; it must have been the office area.
I spent the most time on the fourth floor and knew the situation best. It was where the printing presses were installed and the legal tender was stored, and it was also the place we needed to understand the most.
Each stairwell was fitted with an iron gate, and guards were stationed at the stairwells and in the corridors. The only exception was the fourth floor, which not only had a fully enclosed iron gate, but also six fully armed guards and two light machine guns.
Entering the fourth floor requires a key carried by Kitaoka Ryoko to open the iron gate. The door to the inner warehouse is a very sturdy steel door, and both it and the door to the secret room require Kitaoka Ryoko's key to open; it's impossible to force your way in.
He Siming explained in detail, while Ning Zhiheng carefully compared the structural diagram with his own and then asked, "It seems we can only start with the warehouse. Are there any gaps in the warehouse windows that we can exploit?"
"Impossible. The glass on the outside of every window is always sealed shut, and the inside is welded shut with iron bars, each less than ten centimeters apart. Not even a child, let alone an adult, could squeeze through. It's completely sealed; there's absolutely no loophole!"
Are there any guards on the roof?
Ning Zhiheng tried to find a way to enter from the rooftop. With his skills, he might be able to climb to the rooftop in a very short time and infiltrate the fourth floor from there.
"When I was resting on the fourth floor, I heard the sound of many people walking on the roof. I judged that there were also guards on the roof, and there was definitely more than one person."
Ning Zhiheng couldn't help but gasp inwardly. Kitaoka Ryoko had turned the entire building into a military bunker, heavily guarded and meticulously planned, leaving almost no openings for attack.
Ning Zhiheng frowned and asked, "Isn't there a single loophole? Shanghai is a humid coastal area. There should at least be a ventilation channel for storing so many banknotes. Otherwise, the dark and damp environment will make the paper soft and mushy. She should know these things."
He Siming pointed to a spot on the structural diagram and said, "Right here, on the upper right side of the south side of the warehouse, there is a ventilation opening with a fan installed. But I see that the diameter is only about 40 centimeters. The gap between the fan blades is so small that even a small child couldn't squeeze through. And there are bare walls outside with nowhere to step, so it's impossible to get in."
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