He changed Tiwat

Han Fulai returned to his office at this moment, holding a new cup of "rice pudding" in his hand.

He placed the pudding on the table, sat down, and picked up his teacup.

"Ah...didn't I tell you I can't eat too much pudding?" Gan Yu said, but naturally picked up the pudding and took a bite.

"...Gan Yu, that portion was prepared for myself..." Han Fulai was somewhat stunned.

Gan Yu stopped what she was doing, her cheeks slightly flushed, unsure whether she should return the pudding he had bitten.

"Ahem, it's alright, I've been on a... diet lately." Han Fulai quickly changed the subject: "Lady Keqing, let's continue with the third layer of the plan."

"Mmm." Ke Qing tacitly ignored Gan Yu's slight embarrassment.

"Does Lady Keqing remember that during the fireworks display, Pantalone's scheme took advantage of the time difference between us?"

“Of course.” Ke Qing nodded.

"Therefore, Pantarone will definitely take into account the time difference in transporting the counterfeit money, and thus reject this doomed bank run. Moreover, releasing the counterfeit money was originally just a casual move that could have either succeeded or failed. He could create chaos in Liyue Harbor with the counterfeit money and get some Mora in return, so he had already made a profit. This matter should have ended here... But I promised Lady Keqing that I would remember the grudge from the Fireworks Festival for Lady Keqing."

As Han Fulai spoke, he tapped his temple with his finger, indicating that he had never forgotten.

"That's why I invited Lady Keqing to go to Qingxupu with me."

"You mean... Zhiyi?" Keqing's face showed a look of sudden realization.

"Yes. I deliberately scheduled Zhiyi's undercover operation and the release of the new monetary policy on the same day so that both pieces of intelligence would arrive at Winter's End at the same time. Zhiyi's identity and experience can be cross-verified by the Fools' intelligence, making it quite credible. More importantly, regardless of whether Pantalone trusts Zhiyi or not, he must take the intelligence that Zhiyi brings seriously."

"What will he think when Zhiyi tells Pantalone that the secret of creating Mora is hidden beneath Qingxupu?" Han Fulai asked with a smile.

Keqing quickly provided the answer: "He's determined to stop Golden House from resuming production. His counterfeiting is aimed at crippling Liyue's economy, and his search for a way to mint Mora... all in an effort to make Winterfell the new economic center of Teyvat. And all of this hinges on Golden House ceasing production!"

Han Fulai snapped his fingers.

"This is my response to Pantalone, an unsolvable trap—the moment he sees through it, he'll fall for it! My confident demeanor at the press conference was meant to show him that my strength comes from the secrets of Qingxu Pool. If he doesn't act, Liyue will soon have an endless supply of Mora. So even knowing there's a trap at Qingxu Pool, he must step into it. If he can't obtain the secrets beneath Qingxu Pool, then at least I must ensure that the Liyue Seven Stars don't get them either!"

Having finished her second "rice pudding" and drunk half a cup of tea, Gan Yu interjected, "I have already informed all the immortals that you must stay in Liyue in the near future. If there are any changes in Qingxu Pool, you can provide support at any time. Depending on the situation, we may even be able to capture Fatui prisoners, and then we can punish the Northern Bank."

"But knowing there are such high risks, will he really not give up?" Ke Qing still had doubts.

“He won’t give up. Because Pantalone is a banker.” Han Fulai said with certainty, “He’d even sell the rope to hang himself for profit. For him, nothing is more profitable than owning a mint.”

As Ningguang said, Pantalone is unusually obsessed with "Mora". This is the source of his strength, and it will also be his fatal weakness.

"Furthermore, based on our experience dealing with Pantalone, he also has his own preferences—he is meticulous, ruthless, and will stop at nothing to achieve his goals, regardless of the cost." Han Fulai paused, "Lord Keqing shouldn't have forgotten that fireworks master, Peng Yi, right?"

"You mean he will... 'sacrifice a pawn'?" Ke Qing suddenly remembered Han Fulai explaining to her about "sacrificing a pawn to gain the upper hand".

“And we happen to know some of his pieces, very important pieces.” A dangerous glint flashed in Han Fulai’s eyes.

“Based on our intelligence, the most advantageous strategy for Pantalone is still the same old tactic – a feint. He will definitely prepare all available means and try every possible way to mobilize our forces,” Gan Yu added at the opportune moment. “We speculate that he will continue to manufacture counterfeit currency to cause a run on the bank, and then abandon those pawns.”

"Those abandoned pawns, in order to protect themselves, will cause great chaos. Commercial infighting, political struggles and divisions... even rebellion. Ningguang can take this opportunity to clear her obstacles... I have also completed everything I promised Ningguang here."

Han Fulai's voice was low and deep.

"As we just said, his first intention was to lure the enemy out of their hole, deliberately revealing the flaw of exchanging the fake for the real, thus luring the enemy lurking in Liyue to expose themselves; the second intention was to make the fake appear real, to establish the public's confidence in the Liyue government and Liyue currency, and to take advantage of the time difference between winter and Liyue to harvest the Mora circulating in the market, ensuring our invincibility; you now understand both of these intentions, Baishi."

"And the third layer... he deliberately and subtly revealed the Emperor's backup plan at the press conference, combined with that 'willing take the bait' scheme... Although the details are still confidential, I can tell you that this is a temptation that Pantalone absolutely cannot resist. As he said, with just one sentence, Pantalone could lose both Mora and his army!"

"A single sentence could cause Pantalone to lose both Mora and its army..." Baiwen muttered to herself. What Ningguang was saying was far beyond her imagination.

“But this is not the end.” Ningguang smiled. “As I said before, he wants to extract the Winter Kingdom’s reserves from the vaults of the Northern Bank.”

"Does Lady Ningguang mean... that Vice Minister Han's plan has a fourth layer of purpose?" If Bai Shi's attitude before was one of surprise, then now her impression of Han Fulai has turned into awe.

This impression was only ever formed in the minds of two people: the Rock King Emperor and Ningguang.

Once upon a time, Han Fulai was a new secretary who had to ask her for advice on how to take care of her boss's daily life, but now she couldn't keep up with Han Fulai's train of thought at all. Ningguang had once told her three trusted secretaries that they all had the talent to become Seven Stars... but compared to people like Ningguang and Han Fulai, they were just ordinary people.

Ningguang closed her eyes, recalling that night by the Luhua Pond, when Han Fulai had said to her: "What I want to give you is an even bigger business—the business of the Fools."

“Bai Shi, did you know that during the Demon God War, Liyue didn’t only have the Rock King Emperor as a deity? She once lived in the Guili Plains area… Speaking of which, that deity, like me, also loved glass lilies,” Ning Guang said.

"You mean, the God of Dust, Gui Zhong?" Bai Shi quickly thought of the name. Although Gui Zhong's name was not often mentioned, the mere mention of "Gui Li Yuan" immediately brought this demon god to mind. And one of Li Yue's strongest weapons, the "Gui Zhong Machine," was named after this God of Dust.

“Yes, the Goddess of the Dust returns.” Ningguang nodded gently. “If the Emperor represents the ‘martial’ spirit of Liyue, then the Goddess of the Dust returns represents the ‘wisdom’ of Liyue. She was actually not a very powerful demon god; her power in that chaotic world was only enough to protect herself. But she proved that wisdom is also a powerful force; she could even rival the martial god of Liyue with her wisdom…”

Bai Shi noticed that Ning Guang seemed a little sad when she said this, but Ning Guang quickly composed herself.

"...I've gone a bit off-topic. What I want to tell you is that what Vice Minister Han did was something Gui Zhong had done before. Vice Minister Han was deceiving the Kingdom of Winter, deceiving Pantalone, and tricking them into abandoning their 'principles' for 'profit'."

"Abandoning the fundamentals for the sake of profit?" Bai Shi repeated Ning Guang's words with a blank expression.

Ningguang smiled and said, “Let me tell you a story. In the era before Mora existed, people used precious metals such as gold and silver as currency. The Guili Plain was a vast and fertile land. Besides the town established by the God of Dust, Guizhong, there were also the forces of several other demon gods. These demon gods were evenly matched with each other, and although there were conflicts and frictions, none of them could defeat the others.”

"However, when the young Yan King Emperor met Gui Zhong, most of Gui Li Yuan had already been unified by Gui Zhong. Gui Zhong unified Gui Li Yuan with her wisdom. The method she used was to make the people of other demon gods 'abandon their principles for profit'."

"Although Gui Zhong was not powerful, she knew many technologies. She taught her people to cultivate the land and develop agriculture. In that era, resources were scarce, and food that could fill one's stomach was the greatest asset."

"At the same time, she traded with the people of neighboring demon gods, exchanging gold and silver for their specialties. For example, if a demon god's people were skilled at logging and making tools, she would send people to buy up their wooden tools; if a demon god's people were skilled at hunting, she would send people to buy the furs they hunted... For profit, those people began to produce wooden tools and tan animal hides on a large scale, neglecting farming."

"Years passed, and Gui Zhong suddenly announced that she no longer needed woodenware and furs, and also banned the trade of grain. The other demon gods' subjects were surprised to find that they had begun to suffer from famine because of the lack of people to cultivate the land, and their gods were unable to conjure up food for them... In order to survive, many people voluntarily became Gui Zhong's subjects, and Gui Zhong gradually grew stronger and eventually unified Gui Li Yuan."

"—This is the story that has been passed down in my hometown, the story of Guan Zhong." Han Fulai finished his story, while Ke Qing fell into deep thought.

In Chinese history, Guan Zhong is known as a "pioneer of trade warfare," and his ideas remain relevant even today. Han Fulai's current strategy draws inspiration from the thoughts of this ancient sage.

“Pantarone is a banker. He invests to make money. He only invests for greater returns. This is a common problem among bankers all over the world... no, maybe the entire universe.” Han Fulai smiled at Keqing. “For Pantalonee, what he invests in are counterfeit money, pawns planted in Liyue, and a portion of military power. In return, he gets an inexhaustible supply of Mora. Compared to such returns, the risks are not worth considering at all.”

"And what I want to earn is his 'investment'!"

Han Fulai flipped his hand, and a golden Mora appeared in his palm.

"Mora is made using precious metals such as gold, the pure rock elemental power contained in amber, and the flesh and blood of the Geo Archon. The reason why counterfeit Mora can be so convincing is because it is actually very valuable. The only difference between it and real Mora is the flesh and blood of the Geo Archon. By collecting counterfeit Mora and placing it on the alchemy table, we can obtain precious metal raw materials such as gold."

"But the foundation of Winter's Kingdom is far less profound than that of Liyue! For example, amber is a specialty of Liyue. If Pantarone used up too much amber while making counterfeit money, even if I gave him the remains of the Geo Archon, how much Mora could he make?"

"This is my... 'Han's Scam.' I'm going to trick him into continuing to make counterfeit money!"

Inside the Liyue National Bank, the conversation continued.

Ningguang raised her hand, and a bright yellow Mora appeared in her palm.

“We, Liyue, are a mineral-rich country, and almost everything used to make Mora comes from Liyue. Pantarone always thinks that he can control everything with Mora, just like the ‘me’ in the eyes of the world… But I understand that there are still many things in this world that cannot be bought with Mora.”

"If he wants to empty the Northern Bank's vault, the fastest way would be to lead the Thousand Rock Army to rob the vault. Similarly, if he wants to obtain the Golden House, he should conquer Liyue."

“As I said before, what they want is ‘interest,’ while what Vice Minister Han wants is their ‘principal.’ The mineral resources that Winter Country has accumulated over the years, the influence that the Fatui have built in Liyue… these are all manifestations of ‘national strength.’ Vice Minister Han’s fourth intention is to deceive Pantarone, to deceive Winter Country, and to deplete their national strength.”

"So..."

Two different locations, two different people, launched two different Mora into the air at the same time.

“...The moment Pantalone attempted to gain ‘Mora’s dominance’ through opportunistic means, his defeat was inevitable.” Ningguang grabbed Mora, who was tumbling in the air.

Bai Shi was stunned. She couldn't imagine how much deep scheming was hidden behind this seemingly simple press conference.

Seeing this, Ningguang sighed softly.

"...Sometimes, I really feel that he is the only one who understands me."

Chapter Ninety-Nine This means we are on the fifth floor (lower) [4k]

In Yuehaiting's office, Keqing held her forehead with her hand and frantically shook her twin ponytails.

"Wait for me to calm down..."

After a moment, she finally recovered from the shock.

"So your ultimate goal isn't to eliminate the influence of counterfeit money, but rather to trick Pantalonedo into counterfeiting? When you asked me to host the press conference, you said things like, 'This is a matter of national importance, and I can only rely on Lady Keqing's prestige'... Hmph, it was all a lie!"

"I was telling the truth, I just didn't say everything..." Han Fulai said with a wronged expression, "Our new monetary policy is indeed related to the national economy and people's livelihood, and a large part of it is for you, Lord Keqing!"

"Huh? For me?" Ke Qing pointed blankly at her own nose.

"It's to help you, Lady Keqing, avenge the arrow that struck Pantalone," Han Fulai said earnestly.

Ke Qing's face showed a touched expression, which lasted for about a second.

A second later, Ke Qing pouted and shook her head violently.

"Hmph, you're trying to lie to me again! I don't believe you! Tell me the truth!"

Han Fulai glanced at Ke Qing with some surprise, then looked at Gan Yu.

Gan Yu also glanced at Han Fulai.

The exchange of glances between the two was roughly as follows:

"Why is Keqing not as easy to fool as before?"

"Who goes on to lie twice right after lying once?"

Han Fulai raised an eyebrow, as if to say, "So what do we do now?"

Gan Yu blinked, as if to say, "You decide for yourself."

Keqing reached out and cut off their eye contact. "Hey! That's enough!"

Han Fulai smiled somewhat helplessly, "Actually, we should have let you know, but because our preparations are not yet fully complete, we plan to gradually reveal it to you later."

Ke Qing tilted her chin up, crossed her arms, and looked as if she had seen through everything.

“I don’t know exactly what you two are planning, but I do know one thing—just dealing with counterfeit money and Pantalone doesn’t require Miss Gan Yu to get involved, right?”

"Yes." Gan Yu nodded without hesitation, "But what he said earlier was also true—this new monetary policy was indeed formulated for you, to be precise..."

"It's for 'Lord Yuheng's grand blueprint'," Han Fulai interjected.

"My plan...?" Ke Qing was taken aback.

"Do you remember the Seven Stars Conference you took me to more than half a month ago? At that conference, we barely passed Liyue's military strengthening plan. We established the 'Liyue Academy of Asmodian Arts,' enhanced the equipment of the Thousand Rock Army, began building the Liyue Fleet and Air Force, and recruited and trained new Thousand Rock Army soldiers. Part of the cost was borne by Lady Ningguang, and the rest came from the diversion of Liyue's budget. The diverted budget was..."

“Infrastructure funding…” Ke Qing’s face darkened.

As early as the Lantern Festival, Ke Qing had already planned to build a "major project." She had been preparing for the Biyue River management project for almost a month. But even Ke Qing encountered a problem. As the saying goes, "Even a clever cook cannot cook without rice." Building water conservancy projects and repairing river embankments... these things require manpower, materials, and, more importantly, money.

Given Ke Qing's personality, she should have already begun surveying the Biyue River and selecting a site for the construction project. However, because the infrastructure funds had been diverted to military spending and new funds had not yet arrived, the project was delayed.

"The funding issue has now been resolved."

"There's a small detail in this matter that you should have already noticed. Currently, there are only about 100 billion moras in the counterfeit currency circulating in the market. Even if we include the counterfeit currency that Pantalone may add in the future, it's still far from 4 trillion." Han Fulai said with a smile, revealing the "small detail" worth 4 trillion.

"Ah... your deal with Ningguang was—you solve the counterfeit money incident, and she prints an additional four trillion Liyue coins!" Keqing's eyes widened. "That's your real goal!"

"Lord Keqing, you are now standing on the fifth floor, just like us." Han Fulai nodded.

This was a plan he had made ten days ago.

Ningguang had wondered that night why such a huge amount of Liyue currency, four trillion, was needed. He believed that after this press conference, Ningguang had understood his intention.

And he gave Ningguang a full reward.

He helped Ningguang deal with her political enemies, and Ningguang took on the responsibility of over-issuing currency, securing funding for him.

Of course, given the existence of counterfeit currency in Zhidong Kingdom, over-issuing currency was unavoidable; it's just that Han Fulai "slightly overestimated" the amount of counterfeit currency. Therefore, the responsibility for inflation lies entirely with Zhidong.

"You actually used the counterfeiting of Mora to cover up the over-issuance of currency!" Keqing finally realized everything at this moment.

When Han Fulai recently informed her that he would be holding a press conference to announce the new monetary policy, she also expressed doubts about the large amount of Liyue coins being printed.

Logically, Liyue coins should be linked to Mora, with one Liyue coin corresponding to one Mora. Ideally, the number of Liyue coins printed should match the amount of Mora. Even if there is over-issuance, it should be kept within an appropriate range.

However, Ningguang was the chairperson of the Liyue National Bank, and Keqing was not as knowledgeable about finance as Ningguang. She trusted Ningguang's judgment in this regard, so she didn't take it too seriously at the time.

Unexpectedly, Han Fulai intended to invest this money in infrastructure!

"If it were just about dealing with counterfeit money, we wouldn't need to go to such lengths. Even if we leave the counterfeit money issue alone, as long as we abandon our plan to lure Pantarone into attacking the Winter Kingdom and focus all our efforts on developing the Qingxupu Ruins, the Golden House can quickly resume production. As for the market damage caused by the counterfeit money, we can implement a welfare relief policy to support it until the Qingxupu Ruins are fully developed," Han Fulai explained.

“But since the Winterborn are helping us so much, we should of course accept their help with gratitude.” He blinked, putting on an innocent look. “It’s true that there is counterfeit money circulating in Liyue Harbor, everyone knows that. As for how much counterfeit money the Winterborn made, whether it’s a hundred billion or four trillion… well, Pantarone is not going to come out and admit that they made counterfeit money, so of course they’ll make as much as we say.”

“You… but the Biyue River project doesn’t need that many…” Ke Qing’s lips trembled slightly. She felt as if she had inexplicably been burdened with a huge responsibility.

If Liyue were to fall into rampant inflation because her personal secretary helped her with funding, she would be absolutely responsible—even if Pantarone took the blame, Keqing would not be able to get past her conscience.

“There are many places where money is needed,” Gan Yu said. “Liyue’s agricultural development, road construction and maintenance, municipal land planning… all of these require funding, and they are all within your responsibilities on Yuheng Star.”

"Furthermore, most of Liyue's population is now concentrated in Liyue Harbor, causing livelihood problems that cannot be ignored. For example, the housing problem urgently needs to be solved." Han Fulai recalled Secretary Zhao, who sold the secrets of Moonsea Pavilion in order to buy a house.

"It's time to change the current situation where only the elderly and children are left in Qingce Village, and the young and middle-aged people all come to Liyue Harbor to make a living. Liyue actually has a lot of undeveloped land. For example, Guili Plains used to be a very fertile land, and it is also very suitable for building a town. We can create a 'Guili New District' as a satellite city of Liyue Harbor... uh, that is, a surrounding city."

“But… the land of Guili Plain is not suitable for cultivation…” Ke Qing frowned.

"I can handle it," Han Fu said.

Ke Qing's eyes widened once again—how could he have a way of solving everything!

Han Fulai once again revealed that smile that made Ke Qing's fists harden.