He changed Tiwat

He created Mora to bring happiness to the people, not disaster; he promised to protect all living beings, and that is what he meant by protecting all living beings.

The Rock King Emperor is the God of Contracts, and he will not break his promises—but the Rock King Emperor's "successor," Han Fulai, does not have the idol baggage of the God of Contracts.

It's like the Jiajing Emperor, who ruled by doing nothing, saying, "The Nine Heavens' Great Teachings Universal Salvation of Living Beings, Mastering Yin and Yang, Merits and Demerits, the Great Dao, Thinking of Benevolence, the Purple Extreme Immortal, the One Yang True Man, the Primordial Void, the Profound Response, the Enlightenment, the Subduing Demons, the Loyal and Filial Emperor"—all the bad things were done by the Grand Secretary Yan Song!

Moreover, the Rock King Emperor is now "dead." Since he's dead, why would he care about the floods caused by Oserba?

Thinking of this, Han Fulai couldn't help but sigh in his heart once again. This most senior Sky Isle civil servant on the Teyvat continent really understood the rules of the workplace. He was definitely Sky Isle's "confidant of the court, pillar of the state, pillar of the party and country, and a virtuous gentleman".

"When you first arrived in Liyue Harbor, didn't you exclaim that 'everything in Liyue Harbor requires Mora'? And didn't Lady Keqing also suffer from a shortage of Mora when she wanted to build water conservancy and other infrastructure projects? It can be said that the development of human society is inseparable from Mora. And for more than three thousand years, the Emperor has integrated his flesh and blood into the history of humankind!"

"He has bound the economy of Teyvat to the Mora he created. We need Mora to pay for our meals; workers need Mora to pay for building houses... Human economic activity is now inseparable from Mora. If a country's market lacks Mora, that country's economy will stagnate... For example, Inazuma, which closed itself off from the world."

"Later, for some reason, the Emperor... 'died.' And then, you all know what happened."

The most direct consequence of Zhongli's feigned death was the cessation of production at the Golden House.

After the Golden House ceased production, the originally "unlimited" resources became "limited." And limited resources inevitably lead to competition.

When Zhongli faked his death and held the ceremony to send off the immortals, Han Fu came to the Liuli Pavilion to find Zhongli, but Zhongli directly told him to leave.

In other words, even though he had dined with Zhongli at "Three Bowls Before Passing the Harbor" and was Gan Yu's personal secretary, he was not qualified to join Zhongli's scheme. However, after the Sending-Off Ceremony, Zhongli changed his attitude towards him—because he had figured out Zhongli's intentions, understood the reasons for Zhongli's retirement, and proposed the "Liyue Currency - Mora" system.

His status as the "successor of the emperor" was established at that time.

Zhongli is using mortals to achieve "Mora Domination" in Liyue!

This way we can "concentrate our resources to accomplish major tasks"!

You, Queen Winter, use the Fools and the Executors to orchestrate the entirety of Teyvat, while I, Morax, don't even need to show my face. I can simply stroll around with my birds, admire the flowers, drink tea, and listen to stories, and still reap the rewards of Teyvat with Mora! Because I, Morax, already laid the groundwork three thousand seven hundred years ago!

—This is the realm of thought for the Seven Rulers of the Mortal World!

"Having no sword in your hand and having a sword but not using it are two different things."

Han Fulai tossed the Mora high into the air—

"Mora is the 'sword' that the Emperor left for Liyue."

Then he reached out and firmly grasped Mora, who was flipping in mid-air.

"Now, we can talk about what the Kingdom of Winter, or rather the Fools and the 'Rich,' have done in the months since the Golden House stopped production... and what I have done."

Chapter 110 Teyvat Economics, Zhongli's Strategy (Part 2) [4k]

Han Fulai's words just now were actually somewhat reserved. After all, he only needed to make Shen He understand some economic concepts; as for Zhong Li's true intentions, even if he wanted to say them, he couldn't.

If Han Fulai first glimpsed Zhongli's scheme three months ago at the Qunyu Pavilion, then he truly understood it during the Salt God Ruins some time ago.

From "taking the first step into the realm of thinking about the Seven Governance of the Earthly Realm" to "fully entering the realm of thinking about the Seven Governance of the Earthly Realm," he filled in a lot of information.

It was on that day that he learned why Zhongli had gone through such a long and complicated process to reclaim his "Mora Hegemony".

Because in this world there is a "World Tree" and also "Earth Veins" that record everything.

Everyone's actions, including those of the seven ruling powers in the mortal world, are under the surveillance of a permanently operating "Heavenly Eye" system. Even though Heavenly Justice is currently asleep, Zhongli still has to guard against Heavenly Justice's "retribution later."

It's unclear why Empress Zhidong dares to openly rebel against the Heavenly Principles. Perhaps she has her own reliance on something. Maybe she possesses some special power, or perhaps once her plan is complete, she will gain enough power to rival the Heavenly Principles. But these are things only Empress Zhidong can do; at least, Zhongli seems incapable of doing so.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have needed to select a human agent in Liyue to help him.

As Zhongli's chosen proxy candidate, Han Fulai has already seen the significance of "Mora Hegemony" to Zhongli.

Zhongli made it very clear to him at the time—"Demons are not human."

For a demon god, there is no material desire related to "money". Before Han Fulai transmigrated, he often heard players say that "three gods can't make a mora". Now it seems that not only can three gods not make a mora, but even if all seven gods were present, they probably still couldn't make a mora.

What deity truly needs something like currency?

From a demand perspective, Zhongli's act of forging Mora with his own flesh and blood is highly questionable, falling entirely into the category of "possible, but unnecessary." Simply to help humanity, gold, silver, copper, iron—what couldn't be used as currency? He could have simply used divine power to designate something as currency; why create it himself?

—Unless, the Mora was never created as a “currency” in the first place.

Using Mora as currency was merely a strategic deception by Zhongli. He was using this method to deplete his own power while deceiving that high and mighty being. The previous seven rulers of the Mortal Realm may or may not have been aware of this, but in any case, they tacitly approved the circulation of Mora as the common currency among the seven kingdoms of Teyvat.

Zhongli may have had an agreement with the other six rulers, such as not using Mora to harm other countries as a means of financial hegemony, or perhaps there was no such agreement, but it doesn't affect the overall situation.

Zhongli's grand plan is to seamlessly integrate Mora into history and human society—or rather, to allow special items bearing his "divine name" and containing his flesh and blood to circulate on the continent of Teyvat!

The circulation of Mora was so natural that it even commanded respect from those in the know, and no one could find fault with it.

But the truth is definitely not just that.

Just as Zhongli told him in the Salt God Ruins that day, the Demon God, as a civil servant of Sky Island, was paid a "salary".

For demon gods, "salary" is the faith of humankind! The stronger a demon god is, the more human believers he or she has.

The seven ruling deities of the mortal realm reside in separate countries, each ruling a nation. For example, Liyue worships the Geo Archon, Mondstadt worships the Anemo Archon, and so on. Each deity has its own "parish."

Zhongli, through Mora, made human society's economic activities dependent on his flesh and blood.

Whether in Liyue, Mondstadt, Inazuma, Sumeru, or even Winterfall... which businessperson doesn't want to earn more Mora? Who doesn't pray for the "God of Commerce's" blessing when making money? Even if they don't say it, they always think it in their hearts.

This is "faith." Humanity's faith in money.

The Mora circulating on the continent of Teyvat embodies humanity's desire for money accumulated over thousands of years. In Inazuma's parlance, this is called "wishes" residing within the Mora.

Zhongli, the "God of Contracts" and "Demon of Rock," silently embodies money and acts as the "God of Commerce," reaping the faith of humanity across the entire continent of Teyvat!

So Zhongli faked his death in order to reclaim Mora! Or rather, to reclaim the power of faith!

Moreover, his intentions cannot be recorded by the ley lines, nor can they be discovered by the laws of nature. After all, this is his "gray income" as a civil servant of Sky Island; if he is caught, it will be considered "a huge amount of property with unknown sources."

Only if Zhongli "dies" can the Golden House legitimately cease production, stop consuming himself, and secretly manipulate his agents to reclaim Mora.

At the same time, as a demon god with a responsibility to love others, he couldn't possibly rush to every country to reclaim all of Mora. Leaving aside the possibility of exposing his true intentions and other gods' potential opposition, the sheer devastation of losing a currency that had been in circulation for millennia would be unacceptable to human society.

Therefore, he needs a substitute currency to circulate on the Teyvat continent, and Liyue currency, which uses paper money instead of metal currency, is exactly what Zhongli needs.

The "Liyue Currency - Mora" system is perfect for Zhongli to harvest Mora from all over the world!

When this system was rolled out, people started using paper money in their daily lives, and Mora was locked in the bank's vault. There was a guest priest named Zhongli who secretly sneaked into the vault to help Mora pass away, and no one knew about it, right?

It's like everyone knows that the United States has more than 8,000 tons of gold stored in the Federal Reserve—but who knows whether the Federal Reserve actually has more than 8,000 tons of gold, or how many dollars the United States has over-issued?

Only Han Fulai, a time traveler, with Mr. Karl's concept that "money is also a special kind of commodity" in his mind, could distinguish the attributes of Mora as currency from the attributes of Mora as a commodity, and thus understand Zhongli's true purpose.

As for what Zhongli can do after recovering Mora, and to what extent his strength will increase, only Zhongli himself knows.

Of course, Han Fulai wouldn't say these things. Zhongli had warned him, "Even if it's true, you can't say it."

"Next, I'll talk about a small contribution I've made during this time, which is what Keqing called a good thing that is also a bad thing, something that deceived the entire Teyvat continent... the 'Liyue Currency - Mora' system."

Han Fulai picked up the banknotes on the table and pushed them in front of Shen He, along with Mora's.

"Ah He, which do you think is more valuable, this Liyue coin or this Mora?" Han Fulai asked.

“Of course it’s Mora,” Shen He replied immediately.

"But in actual use, this banknote is worth 10,000 moras, far exceeding the value of one mora. Moreover, the cost of producing this banknote is even less than the cost of producing one mora. Do you know why?"

Shen He thought for a while and came to a conclusion: "...Because you are very good at fighting? The other people in Liyue...like A Qing, can't beat you, so they listen to the rules you set."

"Who said I can't beat him! Besides, I'm his boss, he has to listen to me!" Ke Qing retorted with an air of authority.

"Well, that's not quite right either..." Han Fulai was about to say something when he saw Ke Qing glare at him.

Han Fulai read a message in Ke Qing's eyes: "Subordinates should not contradict their superiors."

“…That’s not entirely accurate either, cough.” Han Fulai coughed. “In fact, the reason this piece of paper is equivalent to Mora’s value is mainly because it represents a ‘contract’.”

"The 'contract' states that people can use Liyue Coins to exchange for Mora of equal value at the bank at any time."

"Because of this contract, people regard Liyue Coins as a currency with the same power as Mora. And what made this contract possible..."

“It’s about trust,” Shen He continued. Yan Fei had also given her lessons on common sense about Liyue before. Although she mostly listened to her while meditating, Yan Fei, as a legal consultant, valued contracts and had mentioned the relevant concepts to her many times.

“Yes.” Han Fulai picked up the banknote. “This piece of paper actually represents ‘credit.’ The credit of the Seven Star Government, and the credit of the Rock King Emperor.”

"During the reign of the Emperor, he ensured an unlimited supply of Mora through his divine power. As long as human economic activities required Mora, the Emperor would produce an unlimited amount of Mora for circulation. The commodity market on the continent of Teyvat has always maintained progress and vitality. The Emperor always responded to the needs of the people, and therefore enjoyed their widespread trust."

"And people will only believe what they want to believe. For example, they want to believe that there is an infinite amount of Mora in the Golden House. In fact, even when the Rock King was in power, the Golden House never had an infinite amount of Mora—but it doesn't matter as long as people are willing to believe it."

"It is precisely because people are willing to believe that this piece of paper can be exchanged for Mora at any time from the Liyue National Bank that they are willing to accept this piece of paper as currency."

"So Aqing said you're a big liar because there isn't actually that much Mora in the Liyue National Bank." Shenhe clapped his hands, a knowing look on his face.

"Shh..." Han Fulai made a gesture to "keep your voice down."

"Actually, people don't really trust the Seven Stars government that much, and the Liyue National Bank even experienced a bank run at one point. But..." Keqing shook her head.

“But I say this is ‘a national policy established by the Rock King Emperor,’ and the Rock King Emperor’s credit accumulated over 3,700 years is worth a lot of money.” Han Fulai smiled.

In a sense, Han Fulai's establishment of the Liyue currency system was essentially swiping Zhongli's "credit card".

People believe neither in the Liyue Seven Stars nor in Han Fulai, but in the record of the Geo Archon's uninterrupted production over 3,700 years.

This reflects both trust in the emperor and a "pattern" summarized from past experience.

Every morning, the pigeons in Mondstadt gather on the bridge, waiting for Timmy, a little boy who loves to feed them.

If there were a pigeon economist among the pigeons, perhaps it could summarize an economic pattern and tell its companions, "I've figured out a pattern: food falls from the bridge every morning at eight o'clock." The pigeon economist's pattern would likely be verified continuously, since Timmy feeds the pigeons every day.

But what if one day, instead of Timmy, a blond auntie comes... that would be a pigeon economy crisis.

The Emperor made the "pigeons" of Teyvat accustomed to a life of easy money, while Han Fulai was the blond-haired man who was short of poultry to make Sweet Flower Chicken.

"Because people are willing to believe that there is an unlimited amount of Mora in the 'golden house,' they believe that the paper money in their hands can be exchanged for Mora at any time, and that this light piece of paper is equivalent to Mora."

"So, the value of this Liyue coin is actually determined by the government's credit. Only when the people trust the government that issues the paper money does it have value. This is what is called 'credit money'." Han Fulai pointed to the Liyue coin. "Ahe, remember this concept. The battle between the Northern Bank and the Liyue National Bank revolves around the word 'credit'."

Shen He nodded seriously, indicating that he had memorized it.

Han Fulai continued, "The Emperor spent over three thousand years building up the trust of the entire Teyvat continent in Liyue's 'Golden House.' Trust is the 'legacy' the Emperor left us. The Northern Bank, however, wants to seize this 'legacy,' so they want to destroy people's trust in the 'Golden House' and transfer that trust to the Northern Bank."

"It all started with the Northern Bank's plans in Liyue."

"According to Moonsea Pavilion's data, Liyue's fiscal expenditures have been tightening for about two years, and economic growth has also begun to slow down."

This is also why, when Han Fulai first arrived in Liyue, he told Zhongli, during the "Three Bowls Before Crossing the Harbor" ritual, that "the world is not good." During periods of rapid economic growth, the contradictions of social inequality are masked. Everyone can make money, everyone has confidence in the future, and everyone firmly believes that hard work leads to wealth, so social conflicts are less likely to arise. However, once economic growth slows down, the previously masked contradictions will erupt because people realize that even if they work themselves to death at the docks, they may not be able to afford a house in Liyue Harbor.

“In fact, according to the records of the Whitewater Hall, the Emperor has been reducing the annual production of Mora since then. However, for more than three thousand years, the economic plans of Liyue have been promulgated by the Emperor to the Seven Stars at the annual Summoning Ceremony, so everyone just assumes that the Emperor has his reasons and has no objections... except for me.” Keqing said in a low voice.

Just last year, during the invocation ceremony hosted by Keqing, this "disrespectful" Yuheng star publicly questioned the Geo Archon, "Your Majesty has protected Liyue for a thousand years, but will it be the same for the next thousand years, ten thousand years, a hundred thousand years?"

At that moment, the Emperor merely responded with a meaningful smile.

At the press conference held after the Lantern Festival, Han Fulai deliberately leaked Liyue's Whitewater Hall's financial report for one quarter of last year. The report showed that Liyue's fiscal expenditures were decreasing. Although the data was real, Han Fulai intentionally interpreted it in a different way, pointing out that the Emperor's abdication was not related to the cessation of production at Golden House, thus refuting the "rumor" of Golden House's cessation of production.

—Anyway, even if Zhongli were in power, the Golden House would still have to stop production. Han Fulai was just telling the truth. But even the truth can be used to deceive.

It now appears that the Emperor had already prepared to abdicate, and the cessation of production of the Golden House was part of that plan.

"The commodity market in Teyvat continues to grow and expand, and as we have said before, transactions in the commodity market require money. If there is a lack of money, it will cause a phenomenon called 'deflation'."

Han Fulai held up one finger.

"This is the first wave of attacks launched by the Northern Bank, or rather, Pantalone, against Liyue."

Chapter 111 Teyvat Economics, Zhongli's Strategy (Part 2) [4k]

“Deflation?” Shen He heard a new term.

Han Fulai explained with a smile, "Simply put, Mora is more valuable and can buy more things. There's an old saying in Liyue, 'Things are valued for their scarcity.' The fewer the quantity of something, the more precious it tends to be."

“But isn’t it a good thing to buy more with less money?” Shen He tilted his head.

"It's a good thing for you, but a bad thing for the merchants who sell things," Han Fulai laughed. "Take this plate of 'Golden Shrimp Balls' in front of us, for example. It didn't grow out of the plate. Fishermen catch shrimp and oysters in the sea, and the oysters are boiled into sauce to make oyster sauce; farmers grow potatoes and wheat, and the wheat is ground into flour to make dough; Yinyuan Hall produces salt to sell in the market; and there are also various seasonings, iron pots on the stove, and wood for starting fires..."

"These items all require Mora to purchase. Yan Xiao, the head chef of Wangshu Inn, bought these items and brought them back to the kitchen. He then used his superb skills to create this 'Golden Shrimp Balls.' Including his labor costs, let's assume the selling price is 6000 Mora..."

"It's 5700 Mora!" Keqing immediately corrected.

"Okay... 5700 Mora. Let's assume the chef needs 3000 Mora to make this dish and earns a profit of 2700 Mora."

Han Fulai pointed to the plate of "Golden Shrimp Balls" on the table.

“Now, due to insufficient money supply in the market, there is less Mora, and one Mora is worth two Mora. Although we still have 5700 Mora, this amount of money can buy two dishes of ‘Golden Shrimp Balls’. In other words, not only do merchants not make a profit, but they also lose 150 Mora for every dish they sell.”

“Oh…so to avoid losses, merchants will reduce production. Fewer people will trade in the market, and eventually no one will do business.” Shen He said knowingly.

“Wait, aren’t you going to ask him, ‘Why aren’t the merchants raising prices?’” Ke Qing asked curiously.

“Because Brother Han only said that money has decreased, but the number of goods has not. If goods are not scarce, they are not valuable. If he dares to raise prices, I will not buy them,” Shen He replied confidently.

"Well answered," Han Fulai praised.

“Then…then you should also ask him, ‘Since prices have fallen, why hasn’t the cost of goods decreased?’” Ke Qing added.