Ch.278Proxy (3)

The Mongol forces began to gather one after another. At the front was Munglig, Yesugei’s right-hand man.

“Move faster!”

At Munglig’s shout, the soldiers began to bustle about.

“Pull harder!”

“The moment you let up, your comrades will struggle too!”

With those words, the soldiers gritted their teeth and pulled on something.

As they pulled, the horses and oxen working together at the front received the added strength and were able to move the massive piece of iron.

“Finally, it’s moving!”

Munglig nodded with his arms crossed.

Reading his pleased expression, the Kheshig guards around him began to distance themselves.

“When Munglig smiles, there’s a problem.”

“Don’t go near him.”

The Kheshig had served Munglig for a long time.

So they knew well not to approach him now.

But there were new Kheshig recruits who didn’t know this.

“W-what is this, sir?”

“Ah! Good question! This is the Ulus’s secret weapon, a muscle cannon.”

“A… muscle cannon, sir?”

Muscle and gunpowder weapon.

At this nonsensical combination, the new Kheshig wore a puzzled expression.

“Looking at this incredibly heavy cannon, what comes to mind?”

“Well…”

The new recruit hesitated to answer.

This was because the senior Kheshig were giving him looks that clearly said not to answer.

So he deliberately pretended not to know and changed the subject.

“I… I’m not sure…?”

“Does not knowing solve anything?”

“N-no, sir!”

“Look here, young man! This is…”

The recruit thought Munglig was about to launch into another muscle philosophy lecture.

This seemed likely since he had recently seen Munglig having deep “conversations” with a muscle philosopher named Batur.

So he expected talk about muscles…

But what came out of his mouth was an unexpected statement.

“The power of taxes.”

“…Taxes, sir?”

“Of all things, taxes…”

The Kheshig couldn’t help but feel bewildered.

Even they knew that making such a large cannon would require a lot of money.

So they understood that a lot of taxes would be needed.

However, hearing about taxes from Munglig’s mouth was another matter entirely.

“Yes. Taxes. The taxes mixed with the blood and sweat of the Ulus’s people have created this massive iron will…!”

Unpleasant thoughts crossed the minds of the Kheshig.

This was because they believed that many people must have suffered since enormous taxes would be needed to make such a large weapon.

From the people’s perspective, it would seem like they were paying taxes to make weapons that didn’t even help them.

Therefore, the Kheshig thought it was a weapon made by exploiting the people.

Munglig shook his head as if he already knew what the Kheshig were thinking.

“Do you really think the Ulus would drain the people’s blood to make such a massive weapon?”

“N-no, sir.”

“Of course not…”

“Gurkhan is a benevolent ruler who cares for his people…”

Though they said this, the expressions on the Kheshig’s faces remained unfavorable.

At this, Munglig clicked his tongue and immediately answered.

“How can you call yourselves Kheshig who serve by the Khagan’s side? This is a weapon made with what we call bonds.”

“What are… bonds?”

At the new recruit’s question, Munglig began to explain about bonds.

Bonds, or more accurately, government bonds since they were issued by the Ulus.

These government bonds were issued for the purpose of executing government projects or raising funds, and in the case of the Ulus, they had issued war bonds for the war against the Jin Dynasty and Song Dynasty.

“Now, do you understand?”

“Then wouldn’t it be easier to just… collect taxes?”

In medieval times, forced collection was a natural thing.

So from the Kheshig’s perspective, it was puzzling why they would do something so complicated.

“It might sound that way, but it’s all part of Gurkhan’s grand plan.”

“What kind of…?”

“It’s to issue government bonds and then buy them with new currency, using them as a means to release currency into circulation.”

Currently, the Ulus’s government bonds were more likely to be used as a means to increase the amount of currency in circulation.

Since the Ulus had just created currency for the first time, its credibility was very low.

The bonds were being used to fill that low trust.

It felt somewhat contradictory, reversed, but there was no problem.

People bought these government bonds believing in Gurkhan, and the Ulus government was buying back the bonds with currency produced under Gurkhan’s orders.

In other words, as transactions continued to take place, people who didn’t know the details could only mistake that a market for currency and government bonds had been created.

“As expected of Gurkhan.”

“How impressive!”

Everyone was generous with praise for Gurkhan.

But the tactless new Kheshig blurted out his thoughts.

“But since this currency is made of paper… wouldn’t it be easy to counterfeit…?”

At the new recruit’s words, the seniors immediately glared at him as if they wanted to kill him.

Realizing his mistake too late, the recruit tried to correct himself.

“Ha ha… ha… Of course, currency made by Gurkhan would have safeguards… I misspoke. Sir.”

“No. It’s a good point.”

Munglig smiled and placed something on the new Kheshig’s hand.

As that something landed, the recruit couldn’t help but feel the heavy object on his hand.

“T-this is…”

“Zhelutonghengzhongtong Yuanbao Jiaochao. In short, Jiaochao.”

“…Isn’t this just a… dumbbell…?”

“Shh. It’s currency, I tell you.”

At Munglig’s words, the new Kheshig nodded as if hypnotized.

Because he felt like he would die if he said otherwise.

“Well, I’m tired from all the explaining, so go buy me something to drink with this. If there’s any left over, buy some noodles too.”

“With… this, sir?”

Munglig silently smiled.

* * *

“Is this right?”

I muttered these words while looking at the dumbbell… no, the Jiaochao in my hand.

This was because the newly made currency wasn’t the paper money of original history, but a dumbbell made of iron.

To be precise, it was a dumbbell covered with cheap iron on the outside and filled with sand in between.

So there wasn’t much difficulty in making it.

“I wonder if making the Jiaochao a dumbbell to prevent counterfeiting was a good decision.”

Currency counterfeiting was something that happened even in modern times.

In other words, it was a time-honored crime that had been with human history since the point when the currency economy became active.

Therefore, many countries had used various methods to solve this counterfeit money problem.

Either by introducing sophisticated technology to make replication itself difficult.

Or by making currency out of precious metals.

The problem was that even if these methods were used, the profits from counterfeit money were enormous, so it was difficult to completely eradicate it.

Above all, the world I currently lived in was medieval.

Therefore, it was difficult to introduce anti-counterfeiting technology like in modern times, and even if similar techniques were introduced, counterfeit money would inevitably be created.

So the solution I came up with was this.

To make the use of currency itself difficult.

“Then it essentially has no value as paper money.”

One reason for making paper money light and easy to carry is to promote consumption.

It needed to be light to be easy to carry and convenient for transactions.

But if it was made into a dumbbell like this, it would naturally feel better to carry actual goods and barter.

I knew that too.

But the reason I pushed ahead with this was because I had no intention of using it as real currency.

“In reality, the government bond paper is the actual paper currency, and this is just for show.”

It was cumbersome, but unavoidable.

If I just gave government bonds, even if the people believed in the country or me, they would inevitably be suspicious.

This was because people want to see something visible and tangible.

So I understood their desires and gave them currency accordingly.

Therefore, if they wanted to trade government bonds, they had to move this dumbbell.

“It would be difficult to actually use.”

I thought this as I looked at the dumbbell… no, the Jiaochao.

Wondering if anyone would actually use this.

* * *

“…You want to pay with… this?”

“Yes. Give me the most delicious noodles and drinks in this house.”

Everyone’s attention was focused on the Kheshig who was confidently requesting payment with a red face.

“To pay with something so heavy…”

“As expected of the Kheshig who guard Gurkhan.”

“Worthy of the Ulus’s strongest unit.”

With the people’s praise, the new Kheshig unwittingly became proud.

This led him to do something he didn’t need to do.

“As the Ulus’s strongest unit, the Kheshig, I believe it’s right to pay with the currency made by Gurkhan and contribute to the nation’s economy.”

“Kheshig! Kheshig!”

“So cool!”

At that moment, someone appeared next to the new Kheshig.

A man with a huge build holding a book as thick as his arm spoke to the merchant with a gentle smile.

“I’d like a bowl of noodles too. I’ll pay with this.”

The scholarly-looking man with a kind face took out two dumbbells from his chest.

The merchant who received them couldn’t help but be surprised with wide eyes.

“How do you… carry something so heavy…”

“It’s an easy task for me. All scholars of the House of Wisdom can do this.”

His identity was none other than Batur.

The founder of muscle philosophy.

However, since ordinary people didn’t know this fact, they mistakenly thought that ordinary scholars could easily lift dumbbells too.

“Even scholars can lift them…”

“What are we then?”

Men began to fall into self-deprecation.

“No, we can’t fall into defeatism like this.”

“Right. I need to do strength training to eat noodles.”

“Without muscles, there’s no economic activity!”

The new Kheshig wore a troubled expression at the people’s behavior.

This was because he had been pretending to lift the dumbbell nonchalantly, even though he found it heavy.

So he tried to tell the truth before things got worse.

“Don’t do that.”

“P-pardon?”

“Look over there. Don’t they all look happy?”

The people’s appearance was actually far from happy.

They just looked obsessed with muscles.

However, in this scholar’s eyes, that looked like happiness.

“Muscle philosophy is permeating people’s daily lives. It feels like the words of the ancient sages are being manifested.”

What nonsense…

The new Kheshig almost let his true thoughts slip out at Batur’s words.

But the Kheshig had to keep his mouth shut because of Batur’s formidable quadriceps.