Chapter 159 : The United Bank and the New Sea Route
Chapter 159: The United Bank and the New Sea Route
The minting volume of the Glory Silver Coins actually was not very large. They mainly represented a certain political significance. However, because their purity was slightly higher than the circulating silver coins, and their craftsmanship was exquisite, they carried a certain premium.
And because they circulated only internally, the centralized recovery of these Glory Silver Coins was extremely easy.
Events progressed just as she expected, very smoothly. The royal family was even more anxious than John. The King and Duke Farhad went in and out of the Pontiff’s headquarters several times a day to meet with the Pontiff, discussing the same matter each time.
After so many visits, the Pontiff, who had initially been hesitant, finally agreed to give the Church Bank his credit endorsement.
Through Prince Bratt, the King spent a large sum purchasing advanced banknote-printing equipment from the Seris Alliance.
With help from many parties, John opened the “United Bank” in the Royal Capital. Under the Pontiff’s appeal, large numbers of believers deposited their Glory Silver Coins into the United Bank.
John then used these coins as the monetary anchor to begin issuing a new type of paper currency, and at the same time announced to everyone in Church territory that he guaranteed every note he issued could be fully redeemed.
And that there were sufficient reserves as assurance.
Having suddenly transformed into a banker, John promised everyone that at any time, at any place, anyone could take his banknotes directly to the bank and redeem them for Glory Silver Coins of the same quantity and weight as on the date of issue.
Thus, the first batch of John’s banknotes had the statue of the Goddess of Light on the front, and on the back the emblem of the Church, with the date of issue—year 3259—printed below as record.
The redemption time of 3259 meant that the value of the note corresponded to the value of a Glory Silver Coin in the year 3259.
In other words, regardless of how the Kingdom’s future policies might change, or how the metal content or exchange rates of gold and silver coins might fluctuate, none of it would have any relation to the paper currency, nor would it alter its value.
In other words, through the dual credibility of the Church and the royal family, plus his own guarantee, John had endowed this Church-issued paper money with unparalleled credit value.
And naturally, such banknotes allowed the people in the territory to trust them, thereby resolving the problems he had previously raised—insufficient precious metals and the inconvenience of carrying them.
This fully mobilized the Kingdom’s resources, reinjecting currency into the Kingdom and easing its severe economic situation. Even the Seris Alliance acknowledged the value of his currency.
John instantly became the most sought-after figure within the Church’s domain.
The Church even specially awarded him the title of Honorary Cardinal, and the King bestowed upon him a noble rank. The path to the upper echelons of power was completely opened for him.
Taking advantage of this, John purchased and merged various trade caravans that did business with the Seris Alliance, forming a united company together with Church nobles, solely responsible for trade with the Seris Alliance.
Using this opportunity, large amounts of counterfeit Glory Silver Coins quietly flowed along the trade routes into the United Bank’s vaults, where they were exchanged for equal quantities of genuine coins, gradually completing the process of substituting the real with the fake.
After smoothly exchanging the counterfeit coins for real ones—leaving only ten percent of genuine coins in the United Bank as emergency reserves—Mitia temporarily paused her communication with John.
John now held immense prestige within the Church, but the next phase of operations could not begin yet. Moving too quickly was not a good thing, so she would allow John to develop freely for a while.
Before she intended to press the detonation button, the supporting strength of this theoretical system was absolutely solid. It was also the method used by the vast majority of nations in dealing with currency.
Therefore, she did not worry that John would one day be exposed.
Meanwhile, the Yuehang Alliance Fleet completed unloading at Kurva Port of the Empire of Mantogore, and after loading imperial goods and raw materials, began the return journey.
During more than a month of sailing, numerous oceanic magical beasts appeared to cause trouble. Fortunately, the firepower of the Zhiyuan-class Cruisers was sufficient to take care of these nuisances.
When the returning main fleet had traveled halfway, it turned away and continued sailing into more distant waters.
While selling goods in the Empire, large numbers of intelligence agents were left behind to blend into the Empire and gather information, giving the Seris Alliance a certain understanding of the surrounding situation.
The Empire of Mantogore shared the Caspian Sea with several countries, and on the opposite shore was a small continent with three kingdoms upon it.
At the beginning, these three kingdoms were originally one, but later split internally into three and had been fighting for years without pause. The fleet’s goal was to use the pretext of the trade caravan to conduct some business and leave behind a few “anchors”.
However, before they even saw the continent, they encountered a pirate fleet on the high seas. To be honest, Marlon, the Commander-in-Chief responsible for this long-distance mission, could not help but grin when he saw the scale of the pirate fleet.
There were over a hundred warships, and together the third-rate and second-rate ships-of-the-line numbered more than twenty. In the past, this would have matched the quality of a kingdom’s entire fleet. This must have been a Pirate King!
Who would still bother being a pirate after reaching this level~
However, the number of wooden sailboats posed no threat at all to the current Alliance Navy. The first round of artillery fire easily produced cross shots, meaning the shells landed with excellent accuracy.
After two rounds of main-gun salvo bombardments, the Pirate King raised a white flag in surrender~
Taking the prisoners to clear out their hideout and planting the flag of Seris there, the Alliance now possessed an island of its own in this region.
One could say it came without any effort. Truly, Pirate Kings were never good people~
As for the one claiming to be subordinate to some kingdom, Marlon raised his gun and shot him dead.
Marlon stated that these people were pirates and deserved death. As for what the pirate leader said at the end, everyone claimed they did not hear clearly.
After anchoring near the island, large numbers of Alliance citizens went ashore to build basic infrastructure, including long-distance communication magic arrays. Information could then be relayed in layers back to their homeland.
Because of issues with cable-laying and signal receivers, wireless transmission of information could not yet be achieved. Although magical communication was incredibly expensive, information was often the most valuable thing.
Following the route, one of the advance fleet’s ships successfully docked at the port of one of the kingdoms, while the remaining two ships stayed at full readiness, keeping their power active to prevent emergencies.
Starting or stopping a power boiler was not as simple as pressing a button. If the boiler stopped working and one wished to restore power output, merely preheating the boiler would consume a great deal of time.
This was also when a warship was at its most vulnerable, essentially a fixed artillery platform barely able to move its main guns.
It was worth mentioning that the kingdom initially did not wish to allow the Seris Alliance fleet to dock. Only after repeated negotiations did it reluctantly permit one ship to enter, and only one.
After disembarking, Tina finally understood why—because the capital of this kingdom was precisely this harbor city beneath her feet.
After learning the news, Tina waved to her personal guard to report the situation to everyone, reminding them to be mindful of their behavior.
The royal palace of the other side was less than ten kilometers from the docks, while the warship’s main-gun range…
If the other side learned the range of their main guns, the three warships would not be allowed in even if they begged~