Deposed? I couldn't be happier! I wouldn't even be a dog to the crown prince.

The bright yellow Kaiyuan Tongbao coin spun around a few times on the rosewood table, making a crisp sound.

Although it was just a copper coin, in the eyes of these envoys whose courage had been shattered by the cannon fire, it radiated a magic more dazzling than the finest gemstones.

"Your Highness, what...what does this mean?"

The Arab envoy, Abu, wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and stared at the copper coin with utter bewilderment.

"Our gold and silver coins are all pure gold and silver, so how come they became scrap metal in the Tang Dynasty?"

"don't know?"

Li Chengqian leaned back lazily on the soft couch, looking at these barbarians who were still stuck in the primitive stages of "barter" and "precious metal settlement" with an extremely pitying gaze.

"Then I will take pity on you and give you a basic lesson in the economics of the Tang Dynasty."

Li Chengqian extended a finger and began his grand plan of "harvesting leeks" with extreme patience.

"If you want to buy silk, down jackets, and porcelain from the Tang Dynasty, that's fine. But the Tang Dynasty Merchants Association refuses to accept your gold and silver, which are of varying purity and weight."

"Want to buy something? Sure."

"First, go to the newly established 'Great Tang Royal Bank' and exchange all the gold, silver, and even your spices and furs that you brought for silver notes issued by the Great Tang Dynasty, or these Great Tang Tongbao coins, at an extremely strict official exchange rate."

"Only with these coins officially certified by the Tang Dynasty can you conduct transactions on the market."

Although Li Chengqian's tone was extremely calm, it sounded like thunder from the heavens to Dai Zhou, the Minister of Revenue who had been listening in from the corner!

Dai Zhou's cloudy old eyes widened instantly.

He has spent his whole life dealing with money, and when these extremely advanced concepts of "financial scissors differential" and "currency hegemony" were introduced, he instantly understood their terrifyingly blood-sucking nature!

This isn't about unifying the currency; it's blatantly and legally plundering the world's wealth!

"Your Highness... Your Highness's move is simply a miracle of nature!"

Dai Zhou was so excited that he trembled all over, and even knelt down beside Li Chengqian's carriage without regard for his image, tears streaming down his face.

"According to this rule, our Great Tang Dynasty can not only exchange those extremely cheap copper coins and paper notes (silver notes) for their hard currency, real gold and silver!"

"Moreover, as long as the exchange rate is controlled by our Great Tang Royal Bank, if we want their money to depreciate, they will have to! Our Great Tang will completely control the economic lifeline of the entire world!"

Dai Zhou's extremely straightforward explanation finally made the previously bewildered foreign envoys instantly realize what was going on.

Abu's face turned paler than a dead man's, and his hand trembled violently as he pointed at Li Chengqian.

"You...you're blatantly robbing us! This is leeching off us!"

Abu roared in utter despair.

"If you keep handing out those useless scraps of paper, won't our wealth turn into worthless paper overnight?!"

"How dare you!"

The languidness on Li Chengqian's face vanished instantly, replaced by an extremely cold and ruthless imperial majesty.

"Who do you think you are, daring to question the national credibility of the Tang Dynasty?"

Li Chengqian slammed his hand on the armrest, interrupting Abu's roar in an extremely domineering manner.

"The Great Tang Royal Bank is guaranteed by the invincible 150,000 troops of the Great Tang! It's also guaranteed by those one hundred red-coated cannons!"

"If I say this piece of paper is worth ten thousand strings of cash, then it is worth ten thousand strings of cash!"

"You're not happy? Keep it to yourself!"

"I'll say it again: if you don't want to exchange money, you can get out of Chang'an now! Don't even think about buying any goods from the Tang Dynasty!"

Faced with this extremely unreasonable and blatant double attack of force and economy.

These envoys finally lowered their proud heads in utter humiliation.

They dared not leave.

Because if they return empty-handed, their countries will face severe shortages of supplies during the extremely cold winter that follows. Meanwhile, those countries that obey will become incredibly powerful, equipped with down jackets and high-strength steel weapons.

"We... will switch."

Abu managed to utter those two words with extreme difficulty, as if all his strength had been drained away in an instant.

In the following days, Chang'an witnessed an extremely crazy scene.

In front of the headquarters of the Royal Bank of the Tang Dynasty, envoys and merchants from various countries lined up in an extremely long queue.

Truckloads of gold, silver, and extremely precious gems were continuously hauled into the national treasury.

In return, they received boxes upon boxes of extremely heavy Tang Dynasty coins, freshly made at the mint, and exquisite silver notes exuding the fragrance of ink.

In this extremely prosperous and extremely noisy crowd.

The Japanese envoy, Inugami Mita, emerged from the bank, clutching an extremely shrunken money bag in utter despair.

The extremely valuable silver ingots he brought from China were exchanged for only a pitiful few hundred strings of copper coins due to the extremely harsh exchange rate.

With this amount of money, let alone buying silk and porcelain, it wouldn't even be enough to stay in a slightly better inn in Chang'an for half a month.

"Lord Inugami... what should we do now?"

The short warrior beside him looked on with utter despair at the Persian merchants who were spending money like water.

"The prices in the Tang Dynasty are too high. With our little money, we can't even afford to buy a down jacket."

Inugami Odenkuchi gritted his teeth, a twisted and insane ruthlessness flashing in his eyes.

"Can't afford it? Then don't buy it!"

He glanced around discreetly, lowered his voice, and spoke with an extremely sinister and calculating tone.

"The rise of the Yamato people was never bought with charity!"

"I've observed these past few days, and the truly terrifying power of the Tang Dynasty is not these silks and porcelains at all."

"But rather, those steel monsters running rampant outside the city, and those red-clad cannons that can spew thunder!"

Inugami Odenkuchi stared intently at the distant direction of the Tougu Arsenal, his eyes filled with fervor.

"If only I could sneak in there and take a look at those incredibly detailed blueprints..."

"If we can steal back Yamato, we can replicate it extremely quickly! Then, Yamato's iron cavalry will be able to crush everything just like they did!"

He carefully stuffed the several hundred strings of copper coins into his pocket and turned away with utmost resolve.

"At midnight tonight, when their defenses are extremely lax, we will sneak into the Shenji Camp with utmost secrecy..."

however.

He hadn't finished speaking.

Suddenly, I felt an extremely cold and hard sensation on my back.

The sheer sharpness of the metal against his skin sent shivers down his spine, leaving Inugami Odenkuchi frozen in terror.

He swallowed hard and turned his head very slowly.

A man dressed in an extremely cold-faced flying fish robe was seen casually and steadily placing an extremely long embroidered spring knife, gleaming with an extremely bloodthirsty and cold light, against the neck of the man.

Shen Lian, Commander of the Northern Garrison of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

"Want to go to the Shenji Camp to see the blueprints?"

Shen Lian smiled cruelly, and the blade moved forward slightly, causing a trickle of bright red blood to seep out instantly.

"There's no need to go through all that trouble and wait until evening."

"His Highness the Crown Prince said that since you are all so eager to learn, he will now respectfully invite you over and generously allow you to see as much as you like."