The first batch of refined silver arrived in Xianyang.
Box after box of silver bricks filled the imperial treasury.
Their brilliance was so intense it hurt the eyes.
Li Si stood inside the vault.
He had never seen such an enormous amount of wealth.
His mouth stretched into a grin he couldn’t close.
“Your Majesty!”
Li Si rushed into the Zhangtai Palace.
Qin Shi Huang was reviewing memorials.
“Your Majesty, the silver from the silver mountain has already filled the treasury!”
Li Si’s voice trembled.
Qin Shi Huang looked up.
“So much silver—this is indeed a good thing.”
He nodded.
“Your Majesty, I fear it may not be so simple.”
Li Si’s smile suddenly faded.
He rubbed his hands, looking worried.
“If there is too much silver, copper coins will depreciate.”
“Prices will inevitably soar.”
“People will have money, but still be unable to buy grain.”
“The state will become unstable.”
Qin Shi Huang’s expression darkened.
He fell into thought.
The Great Qin had just gone through a drought.
Currency devaluation was indeed a hidden danger.
“Father Emperor, Chancellor, there is no need to worry.”
A voice rang out from the palace entrance.
Ying Ziye stepped inside.
He was playing with a piece of silver in his hand.
“Having silver is naturally a good thing.”
He walked to the desk.
“Silver is hard currency—it is the foundation of money.”
“What we need to do is use silver as the base.”
“Issue paper currency.”
Li Si froze.
“Paper currency?”
He exclaimed.
“You mean using paper as money?”
“Wouldn’t that create chaos?”
Ying Ziye shook his head.
“It is not ordinary paper money.”
He took out a stack of notes from his chest.
“This is the ‘Great Qin Dragon Note.’”
He placed it on the table.
The notes were printed with a soaring black dragon.
The patterns were exquisite.
The paper was thick and carried a special sheen.
“This paper is unique in the world.”
“The anti-counterfeit ink cannot be replicated.”
Ying Ziye spoke calmly.
Li Si picked up one Dragon Note.
He sniffed it carefully.
A faint fragrance.
He folded it repeatedly.
The paper was extremely resilient.
He scraped the dragon pattern with his fingernail.
The lines remained clear.
His expression sharpened.
This paper note—ordinary craftsmen simply could not replicate it.
“One Dragon Note equals one tael of silver.”
Ying Ziye pointed at the denomination.
“Backed by the imperial treasury’s silver.”
“And supported by the continuous output of the Ishimi silver mine.”
“The Great Qin Dragon Note will become the hardest currency in the world.”
Qin Shi Huang picked up a Dragon Note.
He examined it carefully.
The dragon looked vividly alive.
He saw a new possibility.
“Issue my decree!”
Qin Shi Huang’s voice was thunderous.
“From this day forward, the Great Qin Dragon Note shall be used as the unified currency across the empire!”
“Copper coins may be used as supplement.”
“Those who disobey will be severely punished!”
Li Si bowed and accepted the order.
In his mind, a grand blueprint was unfolding.
Ying Ziye walked out of the palace.
He glanced back.
“Money only creates money when it circulates.”
He smiled faintly.
Wa Island
At the harbor.
A massive building rose from the ground.
A plaque read: “Ten Thousand Nations Hall.”
This had become the trade hub between Great Qin and surrounding minor states.
Envoys from the Three Han kingdoms stood outside the hall.
They looked uneasy.
“Qin people only accept that kind of paper?”
one envoy asked.
“Yes.”
A Qin soldier replied coldly.
“Grain, leather, slaves.”
“We only trade using Dragon Notes.”
The Three Han envoys exchanged uneasy looks.
They had brought large quantities of grain and furs.
These were their winter reserves.
They needed iron tools and salt.
But Qin only gave them Dragon Notes.
“Are the Qin people insane?”
one envoy muttered.
“How can a piece of paper do anything?”
Inside the Ten Thousand Nations Hall,
Qin merchants were already stacking mountains of Qin goods.
Beautiful silk and sharp ironware.
Stacks of salt piled up like mountains.
These were all supplies urgently needed by the Three Han states.
The Three Han envoys hesitated.
They looked at their grain and furs.
Then at Qin’s goods.
In the end, they handed over their grain and furs.
In exchange, they received stacks of Dragon Notes.
Holding the notes, they used them to trade for ironware and salt.
Their faces were full of confusion.
“The Qin people don’t want grain—they want paper.”
“How strange.”
Qin merchants looked at the goods and grinned.
Cart after cart of grain and furs were transported toward Great Qin.
A few sheets of paper had been exchanged for immense wealth.
“Big Brother.”
Ying Ziye walked over to Fusu.
He pointed toward the Ten Thousand Nations Hall.
“The Ten Thousand Nations Hall will soon spread across all neighboring regions.”
“With Dragon Notes, we will buy up all their wealth.”
Fusu stood at the entrance of the mine.
He watched the laborers working tirelessly.
“Can paper really exchange for everything?”
he asked.
“Of course.”
Ying Ziye nodded.
“As long as Great Qin is strong enough.”
“Dragon Notes are wealth itself.”
He looked into the distance.
There, Qin warships were setting sail one after another.
Fully loaded with resources from surrounding states.
Empty ships would carry Dragon Notes back, heading again to the Ten Thousand Nations Hall.
The natives of Wa Island also discovered the secret.
That paper with a dragon on it could be exchanged for food.
For cloth.
Even for copper coins that Qin no longer cared about.
They did not understand the value of Dragon Notes.
They only knew that with Dragon Notes, they could survive.
And so—
Inside the mines,
the sound of digging became even more frantic.
The natives swung their pickaxes desperately.
They mined silver ore with all their strength.
Just to exchange for a few more Dragon Notes.
On a wooden pole,
Xu Fu was suspended in midair.
He hung there like an eternal lantern.
Forced to watch everything unfold.
He saw the Three Han envoys trade grain for paper in confusion.
He saw the Wa Island natives digging like madmen.
He heard the laughter of Qin merchants.
And suddenly, he understood.
The Great Qin had not only conquered this land.
Not only conquered their bodies.
It was now draining everything from them.
Even their thoughts were being conquered.
Xu Fu let out a hoarse, broken howl.
His body trembled in the wind.
He felt an unprecedented despair.
This was an invisible conquest.
A deeper kind of plunder.
More terrifying than blades.
Blades kill the body.
Dragon Notes destroy the mind.
Xu Fu laughed.
And as he laughed, tears flowed down his face.
He had completely gone mad.
Xianyang
At the Wei River dock.
Ships after ships sailed downstream.
They were loaded with goods exchanged from Three Han and Baiyue lands.
Grain piled high like mountains.
Furs glossy and rich.
Even groups of beautiful maidservants were included.
The dock workers smiled with joy.
“Another full ship!”
“I heard it was all traded for just a few boxes of paper!”
“That paper is unbelievably valuable!”
On the other side,
a new fleet was being prepared.
Soldiers carried locked wooden chests onto the ships.
The chests were light.
Inside were brand-new Great Qin Dragon Notes.
In Xianyang’s markets,
the former decline had completely disappeared.
No long queues outside grain shops.
Food prices had even dropped by ten percent.
A woman took out a Dragon Note from her robe.
“Shopkeeper, one dou of rice.”
The shopkeeper held the note up to the light.
“Right away!”
He quickly measured the rice.
“Madam, these Dragon Notes are truly convenient—much lighter than copper coins.”
The woman smiled and nodded.
“Yes. Prince Nine is truly a divine man.”
Among the crowd, Li Si stood in plain clothes, watching everything.
The wrinkles on his face smoothed out.
His earlier worries had become a joke.
Prices had not skyrocketed.
The people were living in peace and stability.
The national treasury was growing richer by the day.
He bowed deeply toward the direction of the palace.
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