Chapter 1965 - 534: And the King Is Stabbing a Dagger into His Own Chest_3

And…

The risk he undertakes for this is more than just that.

Watching Mr. Newcastle refuse to take his money, Bar became anxious and stubbornly tried to push the money back.

"Sir, I know you're in business and don't need this from us. But this represents our token of appreciation, we can't take advantage of a friend!"

"Then consider it as my token of appreciation, or maybe… an investment from Mr. Newcastle. That's enough, and if nothing else works, consider it a loan from me to you!"

Newcastle blocked his hand again, this time using a bit of force. Although his strength couldn't compare to Bar's, he still expressed his determination.

"But—"

"No buts, I don't want others to misunderstand anything between us, don't forget this is a public place!"

Bar was stunned, apparently not catching the Campbell men's humor.

However, seeing this gentleman's determination, he had no choice but to withdraw the silver coin awkwardly, lest attention from those around focused on them.

"Then… thank you on behalf of the workers!"

He stood up, bowed deeply with gratitude to Newcastle, tightly hugged the book in his arms, and quickly left the café, disappearing into the dim streets of the Lower City District.

Newcastle watched his departing silhouette, shook his head helplessly, drank the last sip of coffee, and left a tip of a few copper coins on the table.

"Really insane."

…

"...Really insane."

In the Central City District of the same city, the office of the Minister of Economy, Baron Wickton read through the newspaper in his hand and couldn't help but curse under his breath.

At this moment, in his hand was the "Thunder City Daily", with the headline being news from several days ago—

[Andes Bank, in conjunction with several banks on Queen Street and the Campbell Royal Mint, jointly established the "Central Bank" to issue copper pounds as a stable auxiliary currency to the silver pounds!]

Although those next to His Majesty the King had already sensed the corrosion from the Rushing River downstream and dispatched troops to block all texts from its depths, it wasn't challenging for someone as capable as him to get hold of a few tattered newspapers.

That's why Baron Wickton felt the bone-chilling cold racing upstream from the Rushing River sooner than anyone else.

While the report didn't mention a word about Duke Edward's intention to reclaim coinage rights held by minor nobles, being a finance expert, Wickton could smell the chilling scent from just the line "issuing copper pounds as auxiliary currency."

The Andes Bank, which previously issued silver pounds to sideline silver coins, has now aimed its barrel slightly downwards, targeting the Barons' copper coins!

They no longer permit nobles to freeload on the commoners' sweat and blood!

Then what will everyone eat?!

Baron Wickton felt unprecedentedly troubled.

Clearly, Duke Edward has a real master by his side, commanding the Campbell people to build a dam in the flood zone of the Ryan Kingdom.

Is it Prince Colin?

Or Sak Jifeng from the Gutaf Kingdom?

Or perhaps… Yang Andes himself?

He felt like he was in a fog, his past experiences were insufficient to solve this daunting issue, and everyone behind him was counting on him to act immediately.

Just then, the wooden door of the office was knocked.

He put down the newspaper and responded with a nod.

"Come in."

The door opened, and the Chief Financial Officer, Sir Hanock, came in.

In his arms was a thick stack of documents, and the face usually wrinkled with worry now carried a slight flush, though the swelling beneath that flush was still vaguely visible.

Last night, he either drank too much or didn't sleep well.

"Baron, this is the spring financial report."

Hanock put the documents on the table, used a handkerchief to wipe the sweat from his forehead, and hurriedly reported.

"Thanks to the progress you made in the Three-level Council, His Majesty's vault depletion has been extended to June next year. While the issue is not resolved, at least there's a turning point… perhaps the situation will improve by then."

He spoke with as relaxed a tone as possible, highlighting the Baron's accomplishments, yet couldn't hide the hint of worry between his brows.

Wickton opened the report and carefully read through each punctuation mark.

The deficit on the books was shrinking at an astonishing rate, the massive debts that once suffocated the Kingdom had miraculously evaporated by one-third within just three months, especially the copper coin debts which had miraculously halved!

And the reason wasn't complicated, as copper coin debts were citizen debts, IOUs written by the Royal Steward to tavern owners, which, while certainly to be paid back, strictly speaking couldn't be counted as debt.

It more resembled a tax collected from citizens by nobles through the "big hand of time."

This brilliant idea was conceived in a moment of inspiration by the cornered Baron Wickton.

Had the King not pressured him, he wouldn't have realized how capable he was.

Just by slightly lowering the baseline for His Majesty, mobilizing the nobles to increase copper coin production, copper coins would quickly devalue against silver coins, a silver coin in the hands of the nobles could be spent like two, whereas a gold coin in His Majesty's hand could be spent like three or even four!

As for silver coin debts, they could be resolved through agreements with the nobles.

For instance, if the King lowered the copper coin standards, allowing nobles to rob citizens of Roland City, nobles certainly wouldn't mind sparing some interest on debts as an exchange.