He changed Tiwat

The "Liyue Currency - Mora" system proposed by Han Fulai was not his original creation, but rather a model he learned from the United States, namely the "Bretton Woods system." In his original world, gold was pegged to the US dollar, but on the continent of Teyvat, he replaced gold as the monetary anchor with Mora.

Exchanging Liyue Coins for Mora at a fixed rate is just like exchanging US Dollars for Gold at a fixed rate; the logic is exactly the same.

After World War II, the United States profited immensely from the war, seizing gold from around the world. At the time, the United States possessed gold reserves worth $20 billion—while Great Britain, the "empire on which the sun never sets," only had gold reserves worth $1 million. In other words, the United States possessed more than 20,000 times the gold reserves of other countries.

Undoubtedly, the US dollar, backed by gold reserves, was the most credible currency at the time, because it could truly be exchanged for the equivalent of an infinite amount of gold—just like Liyue currency and Mora today, since they now boast that "there is an infinite amount of Mora in the Golden House, and even counterfeit money can be exchanged for real money."

Under such circumstances, the United States shamelessly issues its greenbacks to exchange for the resources and goods it needs from countries around the world. Other countries are having their economies exploited by these greenbacks while they have no choice but to help maintain the stability of the dollar... Who can blame them when they have the most gold?

However, behind the "dollar hegemony" lies a hidden crisis, and the "Liyue currency - Mora" system also hides weaknesses.

"Because we promised that every Liyue Coin could be exchanged for an equivalent amount of Mora. All the credit of Liyue Coins is actually based on this contract. Only Liyue Coins that can be exchanged for Mora are currency; otherwise, they are just worthless paper. If Pantarone realizes this, he will use the entire nation's resources to exchange Mora with us... This is a very frightening thing," Han Fulai said seriously.

The "Liyue Currency - Mora" system is a brand-new monetary system on the continent of Teyvat, established by Han Fulai using the knowledge he brought from his time travel. Logically, the native inhabitants of Teyvat would have little chance of spotting the system's flaws. Even if someone were to discover these flaws later, Liyue would have already reaped the benefits of over-issuing currency and having the entire world foot the bill.

And right now, they have the Sky Isle's Tenryu above them. Who knows when Tenryu will wake up and throw down a nail? Anyway, if the nail doesn't hit Liyue, it'll hit Winter... Han Fulai's initial plan was quite simple: as long as he helped Zhongli complete the task of harvesting Mora from all over the world, Zhongli would be there to hold up the sky if things went wrong. As for the economic collapse later—let Zhongli do sit-ups to solve it, for example, "We recommend Mr. Zhongli, the guest elder of the Hall of Rebirth, as the new Rock King."

Back then, the Bretton Woods system was also a nascent system, and Americans didn't think the sky would fall down—then French President de Gaulle educated them that there really are geniuses in this world, the kind of geniuses who are both brave and resourceful and hold the power of a country.

Compared to de Gaulle, George Soros, who later shorted the British pound and Thai baht, was merely a "little brother"—because de Gaulle mobilized the entire nation to short the dollar and called on the world to join in, directly destroying the Bretton Woods system.

De Gaulle's approach was simple: move the gold from the American vaults to France, and the dollar's credibility would collapse; my franc would then become the world's currency.

In Han Fulai's original world, de Gaulle used France's foreign exchange reserves to exchange francs for dollars, and dollars for gold. He used the French government's credit as collateral to issue a large amount of national debt, which was exchanged for a large amount of dollars, allowing him to extract 3000 tons of gold from the American treasury. Simultaneously, he encouraged other countries to exchange dollars for gold, resulting in various countries withdrawing 8000 tons of gold from the United States, forcing the American government to default on its debts, thus decoupling its currency from gold.

Although there's no currency exchange rate to consider on the continent of Teyvat, and the amount of Mora that can be exchanged for counterfeit currency in Pantalone is limited, but...

Han Fulai gently tapped the Mora on the table with his knuckles.

"If Pantarone wanted to empty the Mora reserves of the Liyue National Bank, it would indeed be very difficult, but if it only had more than Liyue, it would be very easy. They could exchange some Mora for counterfeit currency, use the assets and claims of the Northern Bank in Liyue to buy more Mora, and also use the Fatui's influence in various countries to control the commodity trade in those countries, such as food products in Mondstadt and industrial products in Fontaine..."

"He could easily get several countries to export large quantities of commodities to Liyue in exchange for Mora! In a short period of time, Liyue's Mora reserves would drop significantly, while Winter's Mora reserves would increase dramatically, making Liyue the country with the largest Mora reserves in Teyvat!"

"At that time, he could replace the 'Liyue Coins - Mora' system and issue 'Winter Coins'. In fact, since we have over-issued four trillion Liyue Coins, as long as Liyue's Mora reserves drop significantly, Liyue will instantly fall into hyperinflation."

"Although we can still hope that Seven Stars can use his assets to save the market and quickly develop the Qingxupu Ruins... the Liyue currency has been devalued due to hyperinflation, which will bankrupt its credibility and make it impossible to continue its operation. In this way, he can achieve his goal of destroying the 'Liyue currency-Mora' system. And Winter will replace Liyue as the number one economy in Teyvat."

...Of course, all of this is on the premise that Pantarone can truly see through the weaknesses of the "Bretton Woods system" and has the courage to launch a thunderous attack on Liyue currency.

No matter how you look at it, the possibility is extremely small.

"So, the situation is actually quite dangerous?" Shen He blinked.

“It’s very dangerous…if he can really see through things to this extent.” Han Fulai nodded in agreement.

“But it’s okay, because Brother Han has already solved it.” Shen He’s tone was even more confident than Han Fulai’s.

“Heh, that’s right.” Han Fulai’s serious expression vanished, replaced by a smile. “If he can really see this through, then… the Northern Bank’s years of planning in Liyue will be ruined. I can make the Northern Bank withdraw from Liyue without firing a shot!”

Even hearing it again, Keqing was still shocked by those words. The Northern Bank was a behemoth that Ningguang had failed to restrain even with its anti-monopoly laws. With the power of the Fatui and the financial resources of the Northern Bank, coupled with Pantarone's early planning, their operations in Liyue were already quite substantial, and it was impossible for them to withdraw easily.

If anyone else had said those words, Ke Qing would never have believed them. But the person who said them was Han Fulai.

Ke Qing recalled what Han Fulai had said to her a few days earlier in front of the Beiguo Bank: "I'll give you a tube of laundry detergent and then raid that den of thieves."

In fact, he didn't even need to bring laundry detergent to raid the vault of the Northern Bank.

Moreover, they managed to get Pantalone to obediently hand over his own treasury.

"As for that trap..." Han Fulai deliberately dragged out the last syllable, enjoying Shen He's admiring gaze.

Although Shen He was not concerned about external matters, he was particularly attentive to Han Fu's affairs and was now waiting with great anticipation for him to reveal the mystery.

“It’s ‘inflation’,” Ke Qing interrupted Han Fulai without any politeness.

“If Pantalone can truly see through the two traps ahead, he will realize that we are concealing the over-issuance of currency, and he will also see through that we have turned ‘deflation’ into ‘inflation’, and that we have over-issued a huge amount of four trillion in inflation—which means that the Northern Bank’s holdings of debt are incurred at a huge loss!”

“Just as Lady Keqing said,” Han Fulai said, unconcerned about Keqing stealing the spotlight, “once inflation occurs, the first to be hit will be the debt held by the Northern Bank—the later those debts are collected, the greater the losses will be. And because Pantarone previously intended to seize Liyue Harbor's industries, his plan was to wait until deflation occurred before he could reap the rewards, so he issued a huge amount of long-term loans. Once deflation turns into inflation, he will suffer heavy losses.”

"If he comes up with a way to defeat the 'Liyue Currency - Mora' system, he will need a large amount of Mora reserves. If he loses Mora to Liyue here, he will not have enough capital to challenge Liyue's Mora reserves. So his only choice is to cut his losses in time! Before inflation occurs, he must dispose of his Northern Kingdom Bank debt in advance and exchange it for Mora."

“The only way Pantarone can recoup his losses is by selling the Northern Bank’s debt at a discount,” Keqing interjected. “For example, a debt worth 10,000 Mora can be sold to other banks or guilds in Liyue for 8,000 Mora. Although this will result in a loss of some of the loan, it will prevent even greater losses.”

"Without the debt, the Northern Bank's plan to seize Liyue's industries has completely collapsed. They might as well simply reclaim the Northern Bank's assets in Liyue, convert them all into Mora, and prepare for a full-scale battle against our Liyue currency system. Therefore, we don't need to do anything; the Northern Bank will simply roll out of Liyue on its own. Pantalone might even be afraid that if they retreat too slowly, we will reap more benefits."

Han Fulai curled the corners of his mouth.

"As we said before, 'Golden Shrimp Balls' don't grow out of a plate, and Mora doesn't grow out of the vaults of the Northern Bank. If he wants to manipulate commodity trading in countries like Mondstadt to launch an attack on Liyue, he will also need time to prepare, because commodities don't fall from the sky. — He is very short of time to prepare."

Chapter 114 Teyvat Economics, Han Fulai's Strategy (Part 2) [4k]

“To get Pantarone to take this step, I specifically revealed to Zhiyi that Ningguang had already begun to accelerate the issuance of Liyue Coins. If Zhiyi also leaked this information to him, it would reinforce his belief that hyperinflation was imminent. In addition, we also know that there are people within Liyue who will tip him off. So no matter how he gets the information, he only has this one option,” Han Fulai said.

“But… isn’t ‘hyperinflation’ a terrible thing? Wouldn’t doing this be tantamount to ‘destroying ourselves together with the enemy’?” Shen He keenly noticed the biggest problem.

"That's why I said before that controlling inflation depends on Lady Keqing." Han Fulai gestured to Keqing.

Shen He looked at Ke Qing with a face full of doubt.

Ke Qing coughed dramatically.

"The reason why 'excessive money printing' leads to 'inflation' is that the money is not circulating in the hands of the people. More specifically, prices have risen, but people's wages have not. If people have enough money to buy goods, then the price increases are acceptable to them."

"The principle is actually very simple. If the price of goods increases, people also have more money at the same time. For example, 'golden shrimp balls' rise to 10,000 moana per plate, and everyone has an additional 100,000 moana, then everyone still has money to buy 'golden shrimp balls,' and the price increase will not affect people's lives. This is mild inflation."

"But if people don't have enough money to buy the goods after the price increase, they can't consume, and no one will buy the goods. The 'golden shrimp balls' that are made can only go bad, and the coconut milk that is squeezed out can only be poured into the Bishui River, and the whole market will collapse... This is hyperinflation."

"Well, that means inflation with rising wages is good inflation, and inflation without rising wages is bad inflation," Shen He immediately concluded.

"And the reason why the inflation caused by excessive money printing becomes... becomes 'bad inflation'..." Keqing hesitated for a moment before deciding to explain in "Shenhe language" that "the excessive money printing is not directly distributed to every resident of Liyue."

"Why not do it this way?" Shen He's face clearly said, "That's exactly what we should do."

“Because it’s impossible…” Keqing gave a wry smile. “Even if we include the General Affairs Department staff and the Thousand Rock Army in Liyue Harbor, plus the civil servants of your Moonlit Pavilion, there are only a few thousand people. But the entire Liyue region has over a million people! Even if we distributed Liyue currency to every household, it would take forever. And there would be all sorts of accidents along the way, such as errors or omissions, or people going out and not returning…”

Moreover, there is a possibility of staff embezzlement... Han Fulai silently added to himself.

This is why Keqing was chosen to lead this excessive money printing. Because Keqing is the kind of person who, if she says she'll give money to everyone, will personally go door-to-door to distribute it, and she'll even use her Dragon's Roar to threaten the staff's heads and prevent them from embezzling...

"So the model of over-issuing currency is to temporarily deposit the over-issued currency in the Liyue National Bank as investment loans, and then issue these loans to those who need them. Merchants will use these funds to invest in various commercial projects in the market, and these projects will bring new goods and wages to other people, which is equivalent to indirectly giving money to most people," Han Fulai explained.

"That sounds good too?" Shen He tilted his head.

“But generally speaking, this is also impossible.” Han Fulai shook his head.

"Why?" Shen He asked again, puzzled.

"Do you remember I told you before that applying for a bank loan requires a review of qualifications and collateral?" Han Fulai asked.

"Ah." Shen He clapped his hands. "So only rich people can get loans, while those who really need money can't get loans at all because they don't have the qualifications."

"Yes, so the excessive issuance of currency is actually going to the wealthy." Han Fulai nodded heavily.

"Shouldn't those rich people invest their money and then pay people's salaries?" Shen He thought of Ning Guang, and then looked at Ke Qing in front of her. These two were the richest people she knew.

“Because most wealthy people pursue profits. And a large part of those profits comes from keeping workers’ wages low,” Han Fulai sighed. “Lowering costs and increasing profits is the ideal money-making model for the wealthy. Not only are they unwilling to raise workers’ wages, they even encourage people to work an extra hour for free…”

Ke Qing looked away.

"...I...I have reflected on my actions...Perhaps half an hour would be better..."

“Regardless of whether the currency was over-issued, the general logic of bank lending is the same. So as a successful banker, Pantalone only has the mindset that loans should be given to the rich, or rather, ‘should be given to the most profitable projects.’ Making money is already an instinct for him.”

Han Fulai gently patted Keqing's shoulder and continued, "So that 'rich person' couldn't have imagined that Liyue actually has rich people like Lady Keqing who would get rich first and then lead the people who are getting rich later to achieve common prosperity."

"So, you mean that Keqing will distribute this money to the people of Liyue?" Shen He was starting to look at Keqing with new respect.

"Yes. Lady Keqing is from Yuheng Star, the largest real estate developer in Liyue, and a shareholder of the Liyue National Bank. Therefore, all of the four trillion Liyue currency that was over-issued was applied for by Lady Keqing through government investment and construction loans under the guise of infrastructure. Apart from a small portion reserved in case of counterfeit currency runs, the rest will be used to invest in Liyue's infrastructure projects, such as the 'Guili New District' that we have been inspecting these days," Han Fulai replied.

"I promise to use this money for the Biyue River irrigation project, the construction of the 'Guili New District,' and the industrialization of Liyue... such as the development and production of fertilizers." Keqing's voice was firm, as if she were making a vow to the absent people of Liyue.

"Therefore, these four trillion Liyue coins have become a purposeful investment in Liyue's infrastructure, used to build roads and bridges for the residents of Liyue, construct new districts, and develop industry and agriculture. This is something that everyone can benefit from. Moreover, it can create many new investment projects and jobs."

Han Fulai picked up the Liyue Coin with his left hand and the Mora with his right, then exchanged the banknotes and Mora in his hand.

"This is called 'transferring money from one hand to the other.' We print money and spend it ourselves, which increases the amount of currency in circulation, increases infrastructure projects and jobs in Liyue, and increases people's income and benefits. Inflation will also be under our control."

Han Fulai slapped his hands together.

"As long as you can control this 'hand' and prevent it from stealing your money, and make sure the money is spent where it's needed to achieve the desired investment results—Liyue wins, Winter loses."

Han Fulai handed the money back to Ke Qing, who solemnly accepted it as if it were the four trillion yuan investment.

"Now, we can summarize the entire strategy we've devised."

"Two lies, three traps. These three traps are the three choices I gave Pantalone."

Han Fulai held up three fingers.

"He stepped into the first trap without noticing the decoupling of Mora from the concept of currency. He will then have to use real Mora to hedge against our unlimited issuance of worthless financial paper."

Han Fulai bent his ring finger.

"If he steps into the second trap, he will have to knowingly venture into the trap of the Qingxu Pool Ruins. With the protection of the Liyue Asgardians, he will surely suffer a crushing defeat."

Han Fulai bent his index finger.

"If he steps into the third trap in an attempt to avoid inflation and recover his assets, he will have to leave Liyue completely. Then he will sadly discover that we have controlled inflation."

"What if he can see through the third trap and chooses to remain inactive, continuing the Northern Bank's plans and waging a protracted war against us?" Ke Qing asked.

This was also a question she had been pondering these past few days. As the saying goes, "to anticipate the enemy's moves is to be lenient," and through her interactions with Han Fulai, Ke Qing had also learned to be cautious.

“Then he will have no chance at all. This is my fourth option for him—he will despairingly discover that after a while, Liyue will have a Thousand Rock Army that can tear up the IOU.”

Han Fulai clenched his fist.

“If you’re slow on the first step, you’ll be slow on every step. That’s what Pantalone taught me during the Lantern Festival. So this time, I went first, and he didn’t have enough time.”

He looked up, recalling what had happened a little over a month ago, when he had rushed as fast as he could, but had ultimately fallen behind Pantalone. This time, he was going to make Pantalone suffer the same fate—Han Fulai could be quite petty and vengeful at times.

"This is what you call 'the civil servant's card trick.' All his choices are given to him by me, how can he compete with me?"

"Sigh... When you make that face, you look just like a bad guy." Ke Qing pouted.

Han Fulai smiled and then turned to Shen He, saying, "Ah He, I'm telling you all this because I want you to do me a favor."

"Okay." Shen He agreed without asking what it was.

"After we return to Liyue Harbor, I will write down the fertilizer formula I know. Please take it to Lord Liuyun and the others on Mount Aozang and tell them that this is to thwart the Fatui's plot. Ask them to develop a formula suitable for mass production and to create appropriate mechanisms. If they ask about its uses, explain the principles I just told you to them, and they will understand."

Han Fulai paused for a moment, then said, "During this time, I'd like to ask you, Ahe, to stay in Aozang Mountain and assist True Lord Liuyun and the others. Once you have the results, bring the finished product back."

"And what about you?" Shen He asked. Clearly, Han Fulai's request meant that they should split up.

"After I get back, I need to hurry up and make a trip to the Layered Rock Abyss. As a mineral-rich country, Liyue has quite a few treasures buried there," Han Fulai replied.

Just as he had previously discovered that the Emerald Rock could be refined into sulfuric acid and that phosphate rock could be used as an ingredient in fertilizer, there might be many slumbering ores in the Layered Rock Abyss that would allow him to exert his Salt God powers, waiting for him to discover them.

The better he uses this power, the greater his chances of winning. This applies to both the Winterlands and the Liyue Seven Stars.

Developing a complete fertilizer industry system as soon as possible is of paramount importance!

Once the fertilizer industry system is established, not only will Liyue's food security be guaranteed and land improvement in Guili Plains be promising, but he can even begin to operate the "fertilizer patent rights," binding fertilizer to Liyue currency. In this way, the "Liyue currency - Mora" system can be transformed into the flawless "Liyue currency - fertilizer" system.

The Salt God's powers are unique to him, and the minerals used in fertilizer are a specialty of Liyue. If fertilizer were to replace Mora as the currency anchor, Liyue would be both the United States and Saudi Arabia. Petrodollar integration, the Teyvat lighthouse in Liyue!

What he was concerned about was the efficiency of building the fertilizer industry system.

Han Fulai cannot yet be considered a true "successor to the Emperor," as he has not yet won the struggle for supreme power in Liyue. Zhongli has also explicitly told him that support for him will end until he wins this competition.

In other words, Zhongli can no longer exert influence on him. The Liyue Immortals are only helping him out of respect for Zhongli.

Although the "Liyue Academy of Ascendant Arts" has been established, he does not live on Mount Aozang. Even if he were on the mountain, given the seniority and strength of the Ascendants, he would not have the face to urge them to work—they could slack off right in front of him, and he would have to serve them respectfully as an elder.

But for his fiancée, Shen He, it's a different story. This "darling" of the Liyue Asmodians is practically a "daughter" they've all raised together. He needs to get Shen He back to her "family home" to help him get more "dowry."

Moreover, this "daughter" is completely devoted to him! Even if it were a mountain of "dowry," Shen He would bring it home for him without hesitation.

If Shen He were to act as the supervisor, Liu Yun Jie Feng Zhenjun and the others might have to work themselves to the bone on the mountain, working 996 (9am-9pm, 6 days a week).

As Han Fulai thought of this, he couldn't help but reveal an evil smile—the kind of smile that bosses often wore when they saw their employees working overtime for their new Ferrari.

Shen He and Ke Qing both looked at him, wondering why he suddenly smiled so strangely.

Han Fulai noticed the two women's gazes and quickly composed himself, changing the subject: "Sorry for taking so long, let's enjoy this sumptuous lunch now... it'll get cold if we don't eat soon."

Shen He then quietly leaned close to Han Fulai's ear and whispered, "You're not allowed to borrow money from A-Qing anymore."

"Huh? Why?" Han Fulai asked Shen He with a blank look on his face.

Ke Qing picked up a golden shrimp ball and put it in her mouth.

"...It's already cold...I'll have another plate!"

Bonus Mini-Drama: "Han Fulai in a Moral Vacuum" [5k]

(Note: The stories in this short play are all set in the fictional world of Liyue on the continent of Teyvat and are purely fictional.)