Chapter 144: The War of Wealth

The early spring sunshine was not particularly warm, yet it was brilliantly bright, casting a radiant glow upon the smiles of the people and making everything appear wonderfully serene.

Clutching a generous pouch of copper coins, followed closely by her pleasing and devoted man, Ping'er strolled leisurely through the West Market. Her smile was so radiant that she felt as though she had reached the pinnacle of happiness in life.

Yang Zhishou's legs felt weak and slightly trembling. His hands were weighed down with numerous large and small packages as he had trailed behind Ping'er in the West Market for nearly two hours. How could someone like him, unaccustomed to physical labor in his daily life, possibly endure such a trial?

Yet, he dared not voice even the slightest complaint. Though he had failed to make the imperial honor roll, he had nonetheless been embraced by Ping'er as her favored husband. Unwilling as he might be in his heart, he had no choice but to accept this sudden stroke of romantic fortune. The waters of the Grand Drainage Canal remained bitterly cold in the early spring, and being a southerner, he was terribly sensitive to the cold.

Seeing Ping'er's figure flash and vanish once more into a jade shop, Yang Zhishou turned to the two men in cyan garments who had been trailing him, offered a bitter smile, and hurried in after her.

"Shopkeeper, how much is this piece of jade?" Ping'er asked, holding a fine piece of jade and gesturing with it against Yang Zhishou's turban.

"Five thousand copper coins, not a single cash less," the middle-aged shopkeeper replied coldly, casting an indifferent glance at Ping'er and Yang Zhishou.

"The most expensive jade in your shop didn't cost this much just a few days ago. The texture of this piece isn't even top-tier; why are you suddenly selling it at such an exorbitant price? This is the West Market, not the East Market where they exclusively sell superior jade!" Ping'er placed the jade back into its box and complained with evident dissatisfaction.

"The East Market? The jade in the East Market is even more expensive now. If you find it too dear, you don't have to buy it." The shopkeeper walked over, picked up the box, placed it back on the shelf, and refused to look at Ping'er and Yang Zhishou again.

To be treated with such disdain in front of the man of her heart caused Ping'er to lose face for a moment. Gritting her teeth, she prepared to swallow the loss and purchase the fine jade anyway.

"Shopkeeper, when it comes to buying jade, as long as this lord finds it pleasing to the eye, I will take every single piece you have." A young man dressed in opulent attire entered, accompanied by four or five servants. He cast a contemptuous look at the couple, swaggered over, and dropped heavily into a chair while lightly waving a folding fan.

"Although this humble shop is small and our profits meager, we do have quite a few superior jade pieces. Esteemed customer, please take a look; do any of these catch your eye?" The shopkeeper asked with a flattering smile, unboxing several items and stacking them before the young man.

The young man glanced casually and waved his fan. "Wrap them up, wrap all of them up for me. You fellows go take a look around and see if there are any other good jade pieces; I'll buy them all."

Even the fine jade that Ping'er had set her sights on was piled up beside the young man. With a slight nod from him, a servant stepped forward, dropped a large bag of copper coins onto the counter, and left it before the shopkeeper.

Seeing that the jade she had fancied had been bought out from under her, Ping'er could not help but want to argue the matter. Yang Zhishou tugged at the hem of her garment, signaled to her with his eyes, and the two of them slunk out of the shop.

The glaring sunlight was dazzling. Keeping his head down, Yang Zhishou led Ping'er in a brisk walk out of the West Market.

"What on earth is wrong with you? As a proper scholar, you are such a coward! It was clearly I who laid eyes on that piece of jade first—could I not even go and reason with them a little?"

Ping'er jerked her hand away from Yang Zhishou's grasp and stared at him with an indignant scowl.

"Such truly is the narrow view of a woman! What kind of place is this Chang'an city? A moment of carelessness can provoke a calamity—is that something the two of us can afford to provoke? Didn't you see that the copper coins the young man produced were all strung together with cords, and among them were mixed a good many white coins? Without powerful backing behind him, who would dare to openly use such debased currency?"

Yang Zhishou flicked his sleeve, cast a few wary glances backward, and strode forward.

Knowing full well that she lacked a scholar's insight and thoroughly frightened by Yang Zhishou's words, Ping'er turned pale and trotted after him.

Having redeemed her status, Ping'er and Yang Zhishou temporarily rented a small courtyard in the Shengping Ward. Upon returning to their room, she carefully tallied her finances. Recalling the shopping expedition in the West Market earlier that day, she grew thoroughly bewildered.

In the span of just a few days, the prices of many goods had risen considerably. Believing herself to have a private stash of three hundred thousand cash, she had not paid much attention to her wealthy standing. Upon calculating back at home, however, she felt something was amiss. Why had her wealth suddenly diminished by so much? Where had her lost copper coins actually gone?

At the foot of Mount Zhongnan, within a secluded courtyard featuring carved balustrades and jade-inlaid structures, Qi Dagui, a wealthy merchant from the Jiangnan region, sat with a protruding belly in the floral hall, sipping fragrant tea. Sunlight filtered through the windows, casting mottled patterns of light and shadow across the floor like a scattering of gold coins.

His plump fingers stroked the exceptionally prominent white jade thumb ring on his hand. Narrowing his eyes slightly, he stared for a long time at the imaginary gold coins strewn across the floor with profound satisfaction. Perhaps, in not too many days, the title of the wealthiest man in the Great Tang would fall upon Qi Dagui.

"Starting tomorrow, begin releasing the copper coins we brought this time into the West Market. Make sure that at least twenty percent of the copper coins circulating in Chang'an city are those minted by the Qi clan of Jiangnan."

Qi Dagui waved his chubby hand vigorously, exuding the commanding aura of a grand general on the battlefield.

Situated in the Shengye Ward, right next to the Yongxing Palace, Lu Lele sat on the second floor of the Immortals' Welcome Tavern, drinking wine while gazing at the residence directly opposite—a compound with high vermilion walls and shaded by ancient trees, which was none other than the mansion of the Princess of Qin, one of the five estates of the Yang family.

"I hear that although the Princess of Qin is somewhat advanced in age, her skin remains as smooth, delicate, and flawless as jade, so much that even His Majesty the Emperor cannot bear to put her down. You brat, your romantic fortune is truly extraordinary—not only do you sleep with the same woman as His Majesty the Emperor, but you've also become the convenient father-in-law of the Prince of Guangping. Tell me, if word of this gets out, how many people will envy you?"

Lu Lele looked sideways at Yang Zhishou with a half-smile, his expression playful.

Dragged along merely to point the way, Yang Zhishou turned as pale as a sheet. Upon hearing Lu Lele's words, his legs gave out beneath him, and he collapsed limply to the floor, his mind entirely blank.

"That old woman, the Princess of Qin, is truly stingy. She utterly consumed a fresh, tender scholar like you, yet threw away a mere thirty thousand copper coins—and damn it, they were white coins, too! You must know that His Majesty the Emperor, who grows increasingly romantic with age, doles out millions every year just for the Yang sisters' powder allowance."

Lu Lele curled his lips in utter disdain for the stingy behavior of the Princess of Qin.

"Yesterday, when Ping'er and I were procuring wedding supplies in the West Market, we encountered a young nobleman from a wealthy family purchasing jade in a grand manner. Not only were the coins he produced all strung together, but there were also many white coins among them. Tell me, could there be something fishy about this matter?"

Gathering his composure and realizing from Lu Lele's demeanor that he would not torment him further, Yang Zhishou ingratiatingly shared what he had witnessed.

"Oh?" Lu Lele muttered, cupping his chin in thought. Chang'an's commodity prices had indeed risen over the past few days. Initially, Lu Lele had assumed it was due to the Great Tang suffering several consecutive military defeats and the tight state treasury. Now, it seemed there were other reasons at play.

Rushing home in a hurry, he felt it best to inquire about this situation from his wife, Wang Liuli.

Just as he stepped into the room where Wang Liuli handled her affairs, he saw her lift an abacus and smash it angrily onto the floor.

Lu Lele bent down to pick up a single bead that came rolling toward his feet, looking bewildered at Wang Liuli, who was still panting heavily.

"What on earth happened? Why are you in such a towering rage?"

"Did you know that first in the East Market of Chang'an, a massive quantity of strung coins and lead-tin debased white coins appeared, disrupting commodity prices? Today, countless such inferior coins flooded the West Market as well. In just a few days, the losses suffered by our Four Seas Chamber of Commerce have reached twenty percent. I know not which unscrupulous, wicked merchant has suddenly brought in so many counterfeit coins, but the market in Chang'an is about to be completely ruined."

Wang Liuli clutched her stomach, evidently having been angered to the extreme.

Lu Lele felt a chill in his heart. Such behavior of substituting inferior currency for good currency disrupted not merely Chang'an's commercial market, but the very foundation of the Great Tang state itself.

This would not do; he had to track down this wicked merchant and halt such malicious practices. Otherwise, once these counterfeit coins spread throughout Chang'an, the economy of the Great Tang would be utterly destroyed.

"Master! Master! My master has sent me to inform you to hurry over to the Wang family estate at once; there are critical matters to discuss." A steward of the Wang family was led in by a servant.

Wang Liuli felt a slight pang of sourness in her heart. From some point onward, whenever those old men had important matters, they invariably summoned Lu Lele, while she, the chief manager of the Four Seas Chamber of Commerce, had been reduced to a mere ornament.

Yet, what was the use of competing with her own husband? Wang Liuli consoled herself with a soft sigh, feeling a profound sense of loss in her heart.

Inside the Room of Honoring Worthies within the Wang Family's Golden Vault, Wang Yuanbao, Yang Chongyi, and Guo Wanjin—the three tycoons of Chang'an—all wore dark, gloomy expressions that seemed almost ready to drip water.

"Damn it! No matter how many debased coins he has, this old man will buy every single one of them. I refuse to believe that combined, the fortunes of us three old fellows cannot surpass anyone else's!" Guo Wanjin could no longer restrain his temper and shouted angrily.

"No! Absolutely not. Even if we were to buy up all the inferior currency in the market and temporarily halt the flood of debased money, it is not a long-term solution. Think about it: if we buy those counterfeit coins, the ones who suffer losses are us, while the one who profits is that wicked merchant. Before long, he will smuggle another massive batch of counterfeit coins into Chang'an, and no matter how vast our fortunes are, they will not be enough to cover the losses!"

Yang Chongyi waved his hands repeatedly, entirely disagreeing with Guo Wanjin's rash approach.

"Uncle Yang's words are most wise. Uncle Guo's method is not fighting the enemy, but rather subsidizing him. Against such a wicked merchant and his malicious deeds, it is impossible to defeat him through normal commercial means alone. Right now, we must rely on the power of the government to apprehend this wicked merchant and publicize his vile actions. Only then can the imperial court step forward to buy up the inferior coins in the market and fundamentally prevent such malicious practices from recurring."

Lu Lele strode in, bowed to the three elders, and spoke eloquently.

"In my view, what my son-in-law says is the superior strategy. For now, all shops belonging to us shall tightly hoard their goods and refuse to sell, leaving that wicked merchant unable to purchase commodities despite having money. On the other hand, we shall spare no effort to trace the source of these counterfeit coins. Then, all merchants of Chang'an shall collectively petition the imperial court regarding this matter, and let the court step forward to resolve it."

Wang Yuanbao picked up his teacup, took a sip, and a trace of worry flashed across his face.

"Over the years, we have indeed financially supported some impoverished scholars to take official posts in the court, but most of them hold low ranks and have little influence. In a matter of such magnitude, I fear they won't carry enough weight to speak!" Guo Wanjin muttered glumly, shaking his head repeatedly.

"We shall appeal directly to the Prime Minister's residence. The current Prime Minister, Lord Li Linfu, has served as prime minister for over nineteen years and is a man who values his reputation above all. Facing such a vile act that undermines the foundations of our Great Tang, I believe he will not sit idly by."

Lu Lele said with absolute confidence.

"That being the case, we can only take things one step at a time. Let us all pool our efforts and first track down this wicked merchant." Wang Yuanbao nodded, setting the strategy for this gathering.

"Damn it! According to Brother Lu, if this wicked merchant keeps minting lead-and-tin-filled counterfeit coins, the hard-earned money of us ordinary folk will vanish in the blink of an eye? This is even more vicious than bandits robbing people! No, we must hunt this wicked scoundrel down. I, Guo Yan, still have five wives to feed!"

Having taken two more brides, the young Beggar Sect leader Guo Yan wore an expression of righteous indignation.