The smoke of war in the Persian Gulf had barely cleared when Liu Xun returned to Chang'an from the armoured train on the front line. He knew that while steel could conquer land, it was only money that could truly control the world. Beside the Weiyang Palace stood a heavily guarded marble and steel building. Above the main entrance were four large manganese steel characters that gleamed in the sunlight: 'Central Bank of the Great Han'.
'Your Majesty, envoys from various countries are frantically plundering gold and silver in an attempt to undermine the Great Han's trade,' said Gongshu Qi, holding an account book and furrowing his brow. 'They pay for our railway freight and manganese steel knives with heavy gold ingots, which makes transportation extremely inconvenient.'
Liu Xun sat in his dragon-carved swivel chair. The cold, impersonal Financial Module was already activated in his mind:
[System Command] — Activate [Credit Currency System: Han Yuan].
[Core Mechanism] — Establish [Gold Standard];
[Technical Enhancements]: [Laser Anti-Counterfeiting Intaglio Printing], [Unique Number Tracking System].
Current reserves: 80% of the world's physical gold is held in the Han Dynasty's treasury.
Liu Xun picked up a special mulberry paper note bearing his imposing portrait, which was printed on the table: 'From this day forward, gold and silver will be deposited into the treasury, and this certificate will be issued. This piece of paper represents the will of the Han Dynasty.'
Liu Xun activated his 'Top-Tier Performance: Global Speculator', issuing a decree that drove merchants worldwide into a frenzy: 'For all transactions within the Han Dynasty and along the railway lines, those using "Han Yuan" paper money will receive a 50% reduction in railway freight costs and priority supply of refined salt and manganese steel. If gold and silver are insisted upon, a 300% "metal depreciation fee" will be added.'Merchants from Rome, Parthian tycoons and princes from the Western Regions instantly flocked to the various branches of the Han Dynasty's central bank. They carried their ancestral gold bricks to exchange them for the bank's convenient, exquisite "Han paper", which could be used to purchase all industrial goods.
Gold poured into Chang'an like a tidal wave. The 'Sage' in Europe sensed something was amiss and tried to order his followers to boycott Han banknotes and continue using ancient Roman gold coins. However, Liu Xun struck back with the 'heavy blow of interest rates'.
'Tell those still clinging to their gold coins,' Liu Xun sneered. 'Deposit your gold in the Central Bank of the Great Han and enjoy 5% "interest" annually; otherwise, their gold coins will only buy mouldy hay in the shops of the Great Han.'
[System Data Feedback] Gold Absorption Rate: 50 tons per day
Han Yuan Global Penetration Rate: 65%
Sage Camp Inflation Rate: 300% (the monetary system has completely collapsed due to the outflow of physical gold).
When the Sage attempted to disrupt the market by minting inferior gold coins, Liu Xun activated the 'exchange rate lever', a symbol of disaster, at the Central Bank headquarters.
'Reduce the gold-silver conversion rate and announce the suspension of non-Han banknotes for settlement due to the Sage's counterfeiting.' With these words, the gold coins held by Western nations instantly became worthless, and countless merchants collapsed and wept at the docks. Their only hope was to kneel and beg for Han Yuan outside the banks of the Great Han Dynasty.
Meanwhile, Liu Xun stood on the terrace of the Central Bank, watching the long lines of people exchanging currency in Chang'an. He superimposed a thin golden line onto the original black railway line on the geomantic map. These lines, like capillaries, continuously channelled global wealth into Chang'an.
'The railway is the skeleton, the law is the muscle, and this "Han Yuan" is the lifeblood of the Great Han,' said Liu Xun calmly. 'Next stop, I'm going to drive tanks to Rome and make them defer to me, even when it comes to buying bread.'
[System Announcement] Main Quest: Establishing Global Financial Hegemony
Progress: 80%
Unlocked weapons: Economic Warfare Module
Basic Precision Balance Factory
Foreshadowing: To reclaim gold, the Sage activates forbidden alchemy, creating a biochemical fungus that can corrode paper.
Inside the central bank's vault in Chang'an, the air was thick with the peculiar scent of ink and the fresh aroma of mulberry paper.
Liu Xun held a brand-new Han Yuan note with the face value of one yuan between his fingers and held it up to the sunlight streaming through the window. Not only did the note feature intricate optical anti-counterfeiting patterns, it also faintly revealed a roaring black dragon shrouded in steam.
'Your Majesty,' said Gongshu Qi, looking at the chests of gold bars, his voice tinged with worry. 'Envoys from various countries are privately discussing how gold and silver are formed from the essence of heaven and earth, unchanging for eternity. Can these mere pieces of paper truly subdue barbarians thousands of miles away?'
Liu Xun let out a short, mocking laugh.
[Top-Tier Performance: A Transcendent Economic Dominator]
'Gold and silver are valuable because they are scarce, but my "Han Yuan" is not anchored to scarcity, but to survival.' He abruptly pushed open the window and pointed to the railway tracks below and the steel mill belching black smoke in the distance. "Tell those barbarians," he said, "that within the territory of the Han Dynasty, gold cannot buy grain and silver cannot be exchanged for manganese steel. Only the Han Yuan can allow them to ride trains, buy life-saving fertiliser and rust-free, sharp knives.'
[System Financial Module: Anchor Restructuring]
Traditional Currency: Anchored to metals (limited reserves, easily hoarded).
[System Financial Module: Anchor Restructuring]
Traditional currency: Anchored to metals (limited reserves, easily hoarded).
Han Yuan System: Anchored to energy, food and industrial products.
Core logic: Rejecting the Han Yuan means being excluded from the global internal circulation system dominated by the Han Dynasty and reverting to a primitive society. Far away on the edge of the Mediterranean, the Sage sensed his followers' wavering faith in gold and silver. He waved his sceptre, unleashing a biological weapon called 'Forbidden Fungus: Paper Eater'.
Overnight, an eerie, musty wind carried by the monsoon blew towards the Han Dynasty's trading ports. Many merchants were horrified to find their Han coins developing black spots and rapidly turning to ash.
'Han money is sorcery! It's an illusion that will be taken back by Heaven!' The Sage's spies chanted frantically among the crowd, attempting to trigger the greatest crisis of confidence in the history of the Han dynasty. Chaos was about to erupt in the West Market of Chang'an.
Liu Xun arrived at the scene in person. Rather than deploying troops to suppress the unrest, he had a strangely shaped glass lamppost brought in and connected it to a small steam generator.
'Look carefully, everyone. This is not sorcery, but a cleansing.' As he flicked the switch, a pale purple glow burst forth from the lamppost — a high-intensity ultraviolet radiation array. The Han Yuan banknotes, which were contaminated with fungi and seemingly on the verge of decay, instantly withered and peeled away under the ultraviolet light. Not only were the banknotes themselves intact, but they also revealed fluorescent anti-counterfeiting features that were previously invisible to the naked eye.
'The sage's tricks are nothing but mould in the gutter compared to my science,' said Liu Xun, holding up the gleaming Han Yuan banknote. 'My paper is coated with a special vulcanised rubber anti-corrosion layer that is impervious to water and fire and untouched by any evil.'
Seizing the opportunity presented by the sage's exhaustion, Liu Xun launched his long-planned financial offensive by issuing the 'Jianwu Financial Edict'. Mandatory Settlement: all coal and steel transactions along the Great Han Railway must be conducted in Han Yuan.
Gold Devaluation: since gold cannot enter the Great Han industrial chain directly, the government forcibly reduced its exchange rate.
Credit Tax: A 50% 'civilisation backwardness tax' was levied on all transactions using foreign gold coins.
These measures halved the Parthian Empire's treasury. Roman nobles discovered that their gold reserves, built up over generations, were insufficient to purchase even a single water pump from the Han dynasty.
Liu Xun returned to the geomantic map. The black lines that had once represented railways had transformed into a flowing pale gold on the system interface — a pulse of global wealth flowing steadily into Chang'an.
"Sage, do you think you're competing with me for land?" Liu Xun gazed westward, his eyes terrifyingly deep. 'I am redefining the value of this world. When your followers realise that worshipping your god is less valuable than owning my bonds, your silver tower will crumble.'
System Notification: Main Quest [Global Monetary Hegemony] initially achieved; Industrial Revolution progress: 88%.
Unlock rewards: Basic Securities Trading Centre (Stock Market), Large-Scale Water Conservancy, Rolling Mill Blueprint.
While the railway was the backbone and the Han-Yuan dynasty the lifeblood, the roaring sounds emanating from the Chang'an Royal Textile Factory were the invisible steel needles piercing the heart of Western civilisation. Standing on the towering factory terrace, Liu Xun overlooked the thousands of 'Great Han Type II Steam-Powered Looms' spinning day and night. 'Your Majesty, this is this month's production report.' Having shed his snobbish merchant air, Shen Wanshan now wore a second-class medal awarded by the Academy of Sciences. His voice hoarse with excitement, he continued, "Driven by pressurised steam, the cotton cloth produced by one machine in a day is equivalent to the annual output of the most skilled weavers in Susa and Rome!"
[System Industrial Parameter Comparison]
Roman Handlooms: Daily output: 1–2 feet of cloth; inconsistent quality.
Great Han steam looms: 50 feet per hour per machine; uniform width; warp and weft density accurate to the millimetre.
Cost comparison: Great Han cloth, including shipping, is only one-tenth of the Western market price.
As Liu Xun watched the rolls of cotton fabric surge forth like snowy waves, he began his 'ultimate performance': the ruthless trade commander. He ordered that all the fabric be loaded onto military trains on the western route and informed the countries along the way: 'Han silk and cotton will not be subject to purchase limits or price increases; only Han yuan will be accepted.' Three months later, Seleucia, a major silk-producing city in the Parthian Empire, was eerily silent.
The once bustling market was now deserted and the Parthian weavers looked at their workshops in despair. Their silk was thick, expensive and full of loose threads, while the shelves of the Han merchants' shops across the street were piled high with smooth, vibrantly coloured Han-made cotton silk, priced ridiculously low.
In a fit of rage, an elderly Parthian weaver smashed his ancestral wooden shuttle and knelt in the street, weeping. 'This is sorcery! How could they possibly sell cloth for less than the price of raw silk?"
[Evolution of the System Social Model]
Phenomenon: The complete bankruptcy of the traditional Western textile industry.
Consequences: Large numbers of skilled artisans lost their jobs and became vagrants, while powerful landowners, having lost profits from silk, began a frenzied land grab that exacerbated class antagonism.
The sages attempted to prohibit Westerners from buying 'Han cloth' by decree, but people's desire for quality at low prices outweighed their faith in the sages. The unemployed and bankrupt had to exchange their money for Han currency at the Han bank in order to buy cheap Han cloth and grain in order to survive. Meanwhile, the already scarce gold of Western countries flowed rapidly into Chang'an through this exchange.
In an attempt to completely destroy the last vestige of Western aesthetic pride, Liu Xun ordered the addition of a newly developed synthetic dye made from coal tar to the cloth.
The once expensive colours of purple and bright red were now ubiquitous on Han cloth. When the Roman nobles discovered that 'Tyrpurple' — a fabric reserved only for the Senate — was now readily available in Han Chinese markets, even to the poor for bedsheets, their social hierarchy completely collapsed.
'Your Majesty, the Roman nobles have gone mad. They're even willing to trade an entire estate for a cartload of high-quality dyed cotton from the Han Chinese," Zhou Meng reported in a low voice.
Liu Xun sneered: 'I don't care for estates. Let them trade mining and road construction rights.'
He returned to the geomantic map in Weiyang Palace. At that moment, the Western nations appeared as a sickly yellow on the system interface.
'Sage, do you think that war has to involve swords?' Liu Xun traced the map of Parthia with his finger. 'I only need to turn the "spinning wheel" to turn your people against you, bankrupt your nobles, and render your so-called "divine grace" worthless in the face of hunger and cold.'
[System Announcement] Main Quest: Global Economic Colonisation
Progress: 92%
Unlock rewards: Synthetic Ammonia Fertiliser Plant (Beginner) and Basic Large-Scale Chemical Warfare (Gas Mask).
Foreshadowing: The Sage, driven to desperation, decides to incite millions of bankrupt refugees to form a 'Crusader', launching a suicidal human wave attack on the Great Han Railway.
'Your Majesty, the Roman Senate, the Parthian court and the remaining small kingdoms in the Western Regions formed a "Holy Light Alliance" yesterday.' Susa, the former jewel of the Parthian Empire on the Silk Road, was now shrouded in gloom. Instead of bringing exquisite yet inexpensive cotton cloth, the Han Dynasty's steam locomotives acted like giant pumps, draining the Western nations of centuries of accumulated gold and silver.
Gongshu Qi presented Liu Xun with an urgent telegram, with a hint of mockery on his face. 'They announced that all cotton cloth, manganese steel and refined salt produced by the Han Dynasty and entering their territory will be subject to a 500% "protective tariff"; their envoy claimed that this was to "protect the local livelihood and resist the dumping of sorcery".'
Liu Xun sat in the swaying locomotive's command cabin, toying with a newly manufactured, all-metal, fixed-load bullet and activating his Top Performance: The Ruthless Imperial Overlord.
'Tariffs? Those are just the rags the weak use to cover their shame.' Liu Xun sneered, drawing a heavy line on the map at the entrance to the Persian Gulf. 'Since they don't want to do business through books, I'll teach them what "free trade" really means with my cannons.'
Accompanied by billowing black smoke and the violent splashing of paddle wheels, the Han Dynasty's first fully armoured warship, the Xuanwu, slowly sailed out of the Han Dynasty's first overseas naval base deep in the Persian Gulf. Its system armament parameters are as follows:
Hull: 3,000 tons, fully covered with manganese steel armour (resistant to armour-piercing projectiles, arrows and stones).
Propulsion: Triple-stage steam engine, unaffected by wind direction and capable of rampaging.
Main guns: Two 200 mm 'Thunder' heavy cannons with a range of five li (approximately 2.5 kilometres).
When this fire-breathing, smoke-spitting 'steel monster' appeared at the mouth of the Persian Gulf, the teak-sailed warships that the Western Allied Forces were so proud of looked tiny in comparison, like a fleet of floating bathtubs. Meanwhile, the messenger of the saint stood on the rocks by the shore, holding aloft a cross and a 'Tariff Edict', attempting to block the Han Dynasty's trade fleet.
'Retreat! These waters are divinely protected! Han goods must be taxed; otherwise..." Before he could finish speaking, the main cannon of the Xuanwu roared, shattering the heavens: 'Boom!'
A two-hundred-pound exploding shell traced a perfect arc and struck a distant outpost symbolising tariffs with deadly accuracy. In the intense flash and shockwave, the sturdy stone fortress instantly turned to dust.
'Now, my tax rate is zero.' Liu Xun looked at the slumped messenger through high-powered binoculars, his tone chilling. 'Tell your king that not only will my goods not be taxed upon entry, he must also welcome them with open arms. Otherwise, my cannonballs will replace the goods and be delivered to your bedrooms.'
Under the 'persuasion' of naval cannons, the high tariff walls imposed by Western nations crumbled overnight. Not only did Liu Xun demand zero tariffs, he also forcibly implemented the 'Great Han-Western Free Trade Agreement'.
- One-way transparency: Goods from the Great Han could enter freely, and Western countries could not impose restrictions.
- Han Yuan settlement: All trade must be conducted in Han Yuan and Western countries must exchange gold for Han Yuan with the Great Han central bank.
Franchising: The Great Han Mining Bureau owned all mining rights within fifty li of the railway line. This was the most thorough plundering in human history: the Great Han used the vast quantities of paper money and cloth produced in its factories to trade for minerals underground in Western countries, gold in their warehouses and generations of wealth.
The ironclad warships of the Han dynasty destroyed the final trade barriers in the Persian Gulf. At this moment, the progress bar representing 'civilisation evolution' on the system panel finally emitted a dazzling purple light and Liu Xun's long-awaited 'Core System Reward' officially arrived. Inside the Weiyang Palace, Liu Xun personally stamped the official document with the imperial seal.
[System Announcement] Achievement Completed: Preliminary Establishment of Global Trade Hegemony
Reward disbursement: Great Han Empire Patent Protection Law (System Revised Version).
Core Logic: Any citizen with ideas that would benefit the country and its people can apply to the Great Han Patent Office. Upon approval, anyone who imitates or steals within twenty years will have their family and clan exterminated, and 50% of the profits will go to the inventor.
'Gongshu Qi, tell those craftsmen,' Liu Xun said, his eyes flashing with danger, 'that before, I forced them to build cannons to save their lives; now, I'm giving them silver and titles to drive them mad with greed!' Less than three days after the decree was issued, the entire cities of Chang'an and Luoyang, as well as the newly conquered overseas ports, were engulfed in an unprecedented 'thought storm'.
Old blacksmiths who had previously hidden in dark workshops, failed scholars who had honed their ingenious techniques, and even southern barbarian labourers working on the railway lines all flocked to the patent office with bloodshot eyes.
[High-Efficiency Fertiliser] An old farmer discovered that mixing a certain type of mineral lime with poultry manure in a specific ratio could double the yield per acre. He was awarded a patent prize of one million Han Yuan.
Ball Bearing: A railway technician invented a simple ball bearing structure to prevent the axles from overheating. With a stroke of his pen, Liu Xun bestowed upon him the title of 'Viscount of the Ministry of Works'.
While the people rejoiced, however, Liu Xun initiated a 'technical classification review' within the system.
'All patents related to people's livelihoods are to be made available for private companies to bid on,' Liu Xun ordered the leader of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. 'Any patents involving "energy conversion", "explosive mechanics" or "signal transmission" will be directly acquired by my imperial treasury. Inventors will receive double the reward, but they must enter the 'Academy of Sciences' restricted area and are forbidden from ever stepping outside it."
His goal was not to promote progress for the entire population, but rather to establish an absolute monopoly for the Han imperial power over cutting-edge technology. While the Sage in the West attempted to replicate the Han steam engine, Liu Xun countered with hundreds of 'international cross-patent licences'.
'Sage, you want to build boilers?' Liu Xun mocked in a telegram. 'I have already registered patents for "circular pistons", "condensation conduits", and "clockwise threaded screws". For every machine you build, you must pay me 90% of your profits as 'infringement penalties'. Don't pay? My ironclad warships are in your port to collect debts.' Patents had become a more covert and insidious tool of plunder than naval cannons.
On the tenth day of this explosion of inventions, a mad scientist, secretly imprisoned by Liu Xun in the Qinling Underground Palace, rang the bronze bell representing the 'ultimate breakthrough'.
He held up a sealed, transparent jar containing a lightweight liquid refined from petroleum. On the experimental table, a palm-sized metal box emitted a dull yet crisp 'bang! bang! bang!' as a spark plug ignited.[System urgent prompt]
Detected: The first internal combustion engine (prototype) has been created.
Industrial Revolution progress: 98%. Civilisation level imminent leap.
Liu Xun: The steam age is too cumbersome. Since you awakened the ancient bio-god, I will let this 'internal combustion engine' with steel wings look down from the heavens upon your demise.