Chapter 559
Chapter 559 - 539: Surprise Attack
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8 min read
Lu Ping’an had already sensed that a successful exploration of the "Silent Mountain Range" world would significantly increase the discourse power of the official forces.
But no matter how far he thought, he could only imagine using the increasing "dividends" to draw some friendly Churches closer, gradually integrating them into new powers.
At the same time, he would use the "Proper God’s Appointment and Dismissal" right to gradually replace them with his own people, thereby strengthening his authority.
This was the furthest he could imagine... Apparently, he was still far from being a real politician.
While the Foreign Domain was still being explored, what happened on the ground had almost certainly become a secret that everyone was unable to trace. At least in the short two months, the number of Proper Gods changed four times, and even increased by two.
These two months, it should have been intense not only outside, but also on the ground.
From the results, it was clear that the official side had won overwhelmingly, regaining the "right to issue credit-coins" from other families, which meant that they were now the only ones with the power to issue coins.
This completely cut off the foundation for independent development of various Churches.
Lu Ping’an speculated for a while. In fact, there were signs. It was nothing more than using the "profits from exploring the Foreign Domain" and the threat of replacing those who wouldn’t obey the orders.
One by one, they hit each one, and then told the stubborn ones, "See, they all have joined."
In the end, the more push the less, and it should have ended.
As long as most of the Churches of the Proper Gods gave in, the other Churches naturally had to follow suit.
The very few who would rather die than submit... they could simply die, after all, there were stories every year of Proper Gods turning into Evil Gods, and Evil Gods died every year, too.
Of course, all this was a huge gamble.... If the exploration of the Foreign Domain collapsed, all the Churches would instantly retaliate, leaving the official side powerless, and then take over the explorers’ affairs, so the official side would never be able to turn over again.
Although the principle was simple, each step was like a dance on the edge of a knife, and a slight carelessness could lead to a "collective rebellion of the Churches," with the success rate appearing not to be high no matter how you looked at it.
But from the results, the official side won. Whether it was the exploration of the Foreign Domain or the struggles on the ground, they had achieved a complete victory.
Of course, this didn’t mean everything was over, and all the churches would obediently act as dogs... In the grand scheme of politics and history, struggles are long-term, and cooperation is short-term and deceitful.
They’ve only lost a small round; now they can only follow the trend and behave honestly.
There won’t be a lack of small actions in private, and there will certainly be actions to circumvent the power to issue coins, but now that the official side is powerful, they must behave, follow the rules... at least, they need to appear to follow the rules.
To give an inappropriate but understandable comparison, this is the stage of land reform and household contracting. The village chief says, "Follow me, and I will distribute land to every household and help you all become wealthy by cultivating the land and farming."
Most of the villagers who actually own two pieces of farmland wouldn’t go against the village chief who has the "right to distribute land" and policy support at this time, at least they will follow instructions... otherwise, even if the village chief doesn’t kick them out of the game and assigns them the worst land and hardest work, it would make them extremely uncomfortable.
But to wear the crown, one has to bear its weight. With power, come responsibilities and the possibility of retaliation.
Next, if the village chief can’t continue to make everyone wealthy... Discord is inevitable, replacement of leaders is certain, and rebellion is just a matter of time.
But for now, it’s "honeymoon time," a time for the Eastern Country’s official side, the old village chief, to go to the villages with the opportunity for everyone to get rich and recruit manpower.
Naturally, at this point, his word is law.
"The lack of a unified currency will lead to a series of negative impacts. Explorers will hold onto their combat-power goods, and market transactions will become extremely sluggish, which is detrimental to the great cause of exploration by the entire Eastern Country."
With the advantage of righteousness, he naturally can implement his own policy effectively.
Even if all the Churches know that he has his own agenda, as long as the benefits he brings are big enough and his authority is useful at this time, he can naturally implement it.
Especially since the various Churches are currently in a state of chaos due to the drastic changes in the situation of the new era.
The most incredible thing is that many high-level and backbone members of many Churches are now in the Foreign Domain... they simply couldn’t respond promptly to the official side’s allure, repression, and division.
The previously proposed "joint exploration of the Foreign Domain," in a sense, was a trap.
This opportunity for a "sudden attack" only comes once. Given a few months, the various Churches would form new alliances of attack and defense in the chaotic situation.
But at this most important opportunity, the official side chose, without any hesitation, the most fundamental "right to issue coins"... This made the official side stand out among the many forces and become the most important and central one.
As long as this "credit-coin" is widely recognized by the market, there will naturally be no more waves.
Perhaps, from the beginning, this was the most important part of the "Nirvana Plan."
The Nirvana is not only about the "world," but also includes this ancient kingdom wavering in the storm.
The weak government, after regaining the major financial and taxation powers, may become more dominant in the future.
The struggle will be eternal, but coordination could also be long-lasting.
"Is the exchange ratio between the union coin and the old credit coin ten to one? I mean the one from Lin Nu’s family. What, the ratio with Lin Nu’s family is seventeen to one, is it so valuable? I see."
The newly issued currency carries an unexpectedly high value.
When Lu Ping’an first sold his shovel for 700 credit coins, it seemed equivalent to 70,000 Eastern Country’s coins at the time, but its real market price was far beyond that amount.
After all, with credit coins, you could enjoy the Church’s internal services, teachings, and materials, but with money, you might not necessarily be able to buy the suitable "gardening tools."
This 100-to-1 credit coin was already valuable, and now, the new "union coin" has actually reached 1700 to 1.
"No exchange is allowed?"
Perhaps to avoid the impact on the existing financial system, or perhaps hoping to limit this currency to the Extraordinary ones’ world, the new union coin was not pegged to the Eastern Country’s coin.
It only underwent one-way exchange with some Churches’ credit coins... From now on, the private credit coins of the Churches would only become rarer, and those Church members who held a large number of credit coins would naturally be dragged out of the Church’s inner circulation.
Of course, there must be people secretly playing by little rules and conducting inner-circulation, but the premise is not to be found out, thus naturally reducing the likelihood of large-scale usage, reducing its impact on the entire society and market.
"There certainly will be small transactions on the black market, but this time the official side mainly used credit settlement, and the issuance of anonymous paper money was quite restrained. Even if there were black market transactions, the total amount in the short term wouldn’t be much."
Lu Ping’an nodded thoughtfully.
The new currency, limited to the use of the Extraordinary, somewhat avoided an impact on livelihood industries.
The new currency, directly pegged to the old credit coins of the past, used them as an anchor, and also as a security.
On the one hand, it is equivalent to providing a guarantee for the new currency with the assets of those Proper God Churches, making them the effective subject of transactions... Only when a currency can be used to buy resources, necessities, and advanced technologies in the market, can it have enough credit.
On the other hand, it also broke the small inner circles of those Churches, making all Churches... At least most of the Proper God Churches’ economic interests are tied to the official chariot, becoming, in a sense, a community of shared interests.
— End of Chapter 559 —