Chapter 762: What If There’s No Money?
The bank run came quickly, though it wasn’t exactly unforeseen.
With the Empire shifting its focus toward development in Amellia, a massive cash flow was inevitably redirected there. On top of that, the Empire implemented a currency purification policy in Amellia—exchanging local foreign currencies for the Empire’s own currency, the Gael, to ensure monetary uniformity.
The policy itself wasn’t flawed; in fact, it greatly facilitated the Empire’s control over the region. But it also created new problems.
Currency in the Empire’s mainland started to shrink. Suddenly, a new territory with nearly eight million people was added to the system. If each person held just 100 Gaels, that alone would drain 800 million from the Empire’s cash reserves.
Doesn’t sound like much?
True—if a nation can’t spare 800 million Gaels, it’s either very small or already collapsing.
But the Empire was neither. And the people in Amellia didn’t just hold 100 Gaels each. Some had less, but many had far more. Add to that the influx of capital, merchant funds, and bank cash flow—the mainland began to resemble a malnourished, pale man, visibly unhealthy beneath the skin.
The cash shortage in the mainland was reflected everywhere. The Empire delayed payments on foreign war bonds and even considered defaulting. Domestically, it tried to force excess goods into foreign markets, including the Federation, through aggressive trade negotiations.
All of this pointed to one thing: a currency crisis.