Yama Rising

He wasn’t tall. Apart from a slightly squarish face of his, nothing else stood out in particular. He was fraught with anxiety when faced with Qin Ye’s sudden line of questions, and he rubbed his hands together nervously as he replied, “Your Majesty, all of the banknotes in Cathay come from Central Mint of Cathay and its eleven subsidiary companies. Three of these eleven subsidiaries are banknote factories, located in Lotus City, Kunshan City, and Baoding City. I’ve had the privilege of working in the Kunshan banknote factory in Su Province.”

No wonder they only discovered something amiss after carrying out the abrasion resistance test. Qin Ye sighed. The fire in his heart had completely subsided by now.

They were at a critical juncture of Hell’s development right now, and Qin Ye knew that it wouldn’t be appropriate to strip Huang Liangchuan of his title and order a sudden and abrupt change in leadership. Since Huang Liangchuan had already been in charge for such a long time, it was definitely the more prudent thing to let him continue being in charge.

“I’d previously thought that the minting and the banking industry were one and the same.” Qin Ye remarked, “I was wrong. Su Dongxue.”

“Make preparations for the establishment of the Central Mint of Hell. As for the director…” He glanced at Huang Liangchuan’s subordinate, “You’ll take charge for the moment.”

Huang Liangchuan couldn’t help but sigh to himself. His heart was fraught with surprise, gladness, and remorse, all at the same time.

He was remorseful because he felt that he didn’t handle the quandary well.

This was Qin Ye’s warning.

“You guys are dismissed for now. Let me sort out my thoughts.” Qin Ye massaged his temple as he waved his hands dismissively, and Huang Liangchuan and the rest promptly took their leave. It was only then that Qin Ye leaned back into his chair and stared vacantly at the ceiling, asking aloud, “What should we do?”

Qin Ye shook his head. The amount of those things they could produce was far too low. Besides, the raw materials of gold, silver and copper were far too expensive, and it wasn’t something that they could obtain with just several billion RMB.

“Su Dongxue, what are your views?” Having discovered Su Dongxue to be a gem in the rough when it comes to matters of governance, Qin Ye made it a point to guide her along as and when he could.

That’s true. Qin Ye sighed and stood up, tapping his fingers gently on the table as he fell into deep thought.

That said, the establishment and implementation of the monetary system could even be said to be crucial to the further development of Hell! Hundreds of tons of goods were flooding the market, while several production lines were in the process of being set up. Hell needed a system of currency in order to support its burgeoning market! And if they were to establish trade routes with other feudal officials at the end of the year, then the existence of a common currency would be even more crucial!

Out of the question. It was far too antiquated. Besides, everyone used paper currency. Was Qin Ye really about to tell the feudal officials that the new Hell didn’t even have a system of paper currency in place? How primitive would they appear to be?

He mulled over these matters for approximately half an hour more, before finally sighing wistfully, “Issue a notice. Inform all of our citizens that the implementation of the monetary system will be slightly delayed. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing to them. After all, the system of currency is a form of restriction since it forces them to go to work. But given how things are, it looks like I’ll have no choice but to give them some latitude to be mischievous now.”

The scribes behind recorded everything which Qin Ye said without even lifting their heads. Then, just as Qin Ye was finally about to take his leave, Arthis quipped, “How about asking what’s-his-name, that old man who you saved the last time?”

Su Dongxue raised her hand and boldly asked, “Your Majesty, then will next month’s induction ceremony for the divine artifact go on as scheduled?”

As soon as Qin Ye returned to his dorm room, he immediately flipped open his laptop and began searching fervently.

“Banknote paper is a resource that is unique to each country. Both the materials required and the production method are generally considered top secret. All who are discovered in possession of these items can be prosecuted by law.” -- Baidu.

“Cotton paper is generally free from impurity, is naturally white, and requires no fluorescent brighteners. If exposed to ultraviolet light, it remains devoid of fluorescent reactions. In contrast, ordinary printing paper contains considerably more fluorescent brighteners, and they would tend to glow with a blue or violet light under ultraviolet light.” -- Google.

Colour shifting ink was something that was even more precious than cotton paper, and Qin Ye didn’t even want to open that can of worms. After all, these were controlled items that were exclusively transported by way of military convoys.

“Not good.” Qin Ye tapped on his keyboard, “The only conclusion I have after an entire afternoon of research is this - forget about it.”

He sipped his coffee gently and glanced out of the window at the basketball court. Even though it was already end-July, there were still several well-built figures playing basketball on the court.

He snorted coldly as he set down his coffee mug heavily, “I refuse to believe that I’ll get tripped up by something like this!”

………………………………………..

If a government were intent on suppressing the true effects of a piece of news, the citizens generally wouldn’t be able to sense anything amiss at all. It was just like news of the US-China trade war of 2018. What happened then?

With that, Qin Ye temporarily shelved his concerns about the monetary system and invested his time and effort into the construction efforts of Hell. He began to distribute and allocate the resources to the various departments, and he soon saw more and more citizens applying to be part of the construction team in Hell. Soon, new divisions were formed, blueprints were approved, and the booming construction industry finally entered into full swing.

The entire organization was temporarily located in the left annex hall of Hell’s Gate. The right annex hall was designated as the hall where important meetings requiring Qin Ye’s personal attendance were conducted. When no such meetings were ongoing, it would be occupied by the village committee of Hell instead.

In other words, every inch of space within Hell’s Gate was completely and fully utilized. Unfortunately, there weren’t any alternatives available right now. The governmental building, the village hall, and buildings holding the other major institutions of Hell were all still under construction, and they would only be available next year, at the very earliest.

15 August. Gu Qing heaved a huge sigh of relief. He had finally completed his surveying and planning works. Following that, he began to delve into the design works of the important buildings which Hell needed as soon as possible.

After all, the age of military prowess was generally consonant with the age of prosperity.

The great induction ceremony of the first divine artifact of Hell was finally at hand.

“We’re all set.” Professor Li and Professor An were waiting just outside the door. Qin Ye responded, “Have you decided on which of the five unparalleled units we should be summoning?”

Qin Ye paused for a moment. He didn’t expect them to have chosen the Black Armored Troops. The two professors promptly explained, “My Lord, Mr Oda has said that we’ll soon see an influx of heavy armor. Incidentally, the Black Armored Troops are known to be an indomitable force, akin to tanks in modern warfare if you will. Of the five unparalleled units, the Black Armored Troops would best complement the heavy armor spoken of by Mr Oda.”

“Rest assured.” Arthis’ voice came from the rafters above, “We’re going to put on a show that will forever be etched in their memories. Not even I have experienced any of the things you’ve just mentioned… so these Yin spirits can truly count their lucky stars that they’ll personally witness all three at the same time!”